English Project
by nomorehappykitty
Summary: Sakura has been known at Konoha High for a long time as a freak because she kept to herself. When she's stuck with the most dangerous guys in school though she finds it easier to open up and be friends with him. Rated M for chapter 2. I suck at summaries. Sorry (revised)
1. Chapter 1

Kitty-chan: Hey guys . . . Um, well I don't usually do this, but since this is one of my most popular stories, I decided to look back on it to see what made it so popular. While I did so, I saw that there were a lot of plot-holes and grammar errors and stuff, so I decided to rewrite it. Same story line but better.

Sakura: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

It was cold outside, so very cold that Sakura almost skipped school in order to avoid the frigid air. She didn't like school anyways, with its hateful students, dreary appearances that made her want to fall asleep in all the classes, and overpriced but terrible food. The only thing that kept her from staying home was the fact that she didn't _want_ to stay home.

_Why is it so cold in September?_ She thought bitterly, trying to keep warm in the hoodies that she had put on that morning. School had just started and the weather was already too much for the pinkette.

Sakura was a small, thin girl with shoulder length petal pink hair, sea-foam green eyes, a pale but clear complexion, and a gentle smile that rarely showed. She wore whatever she could afford on her own. She was emancipated from her parents, refusing to conform to the strict standards of her uptight parents.

Sakura was a practical person. She kept a job—as crappy as the pay may have been—and earned enough to pay for her school lunches, bus fair, rent, food for dinner every night, and new clothes when her old ones were wearing out. They may not have been the best clothes, but they were comfortable and they were cheap; and the bus was not the best one in the world, but it still managed to get her to and from school and work.

Sakura was also pretty smart, even had the highest GPA in her grade. She knew it sounded stuck-up, but people bored her. She had tried at friendship one time but found reading to be more compelling than listening to someone go on an on about uninteresting topics. It would have been better for her to find someone with common interests, but the young pinkette found it easier to bury herself in the books she loved.

The young girl didn't let her peers' words to get to her; she simply ignored them and went on her quiet way. This caused many people to despise her and make fun of her even more. People thought she was stuck up or that she thought she was too good to hang out with anyone in the school. It wasn't long before she began to hate her school almost as much as she hated staying at home . . . but she went anyways. It was better than staying in an empty apartment all day.

So Sakura caught the early bus to her school as she did every morning, and she made it to the school—early as usual. She liked coming to school early. That meant she was teased less often. No one would see where she hid in the courtyard until the first bell rang for class.

She regretted coming to school almost immediately though. That morning was one of the coldest mornings of the winter, and the bus had no heat—or air for that matter—and she was having a difficult time heating up in the hoodies she had slipped on that morning before leaving for school. Sakura almost regretted having to go to school and sit out in the cold for the hour that it would take for the bell to ring.

She parked and made her way quickly to her hiding place—one of the largest trees in the courtyard. Sakura sat there, huddled on a thick tree branch, reading a large book. Hardly five minutes had passed before she realized that she wasn't alone in the tree. Sakura glanced away from her book long enough to see that someone else was sitting on a branch not five feet away from her. She almost fell off her branch when she caught sight of him.

The person sitting in the tree was rumored to be one of the few most volatile students in the history of their school: Sasori Akasuna. It was rumored that he was admitted to a juvenile detention center more than three times in his life, he abused drugs, and he was a Satanist along with his group of friends—most of which were in their last year of high school—who were apparently just as dangerous if not more than he was.

It was a good thing Sakura didn't believe in rumors.

But she wasn't stupid. She had seen his violent side before, and it wasn't something she ever wanted to wheedle out of him. Despite his outward lack of interest toward anyone, she had caught him taking up for one of his friends one time. He wasn't the one who had started the fight either.

Sasori Akasuna was a mystery to Sakura, and—while frightening—he was pretty fascinating. Everything from his appearance to the way he seemed so alert yet distant intrigued Sakura as she blatantly stared at him.

Sasori had messy blood red hair, a clear but deathly pale complexion, and the prettiest shade of brown eyes that Sakura had ever seen. He had a thin ring of black eyeliner around his eyes and wore a lot of black and red and had a few piercings in each ear and one on his lip. To be blunt, Sasori was goth.

He sat on the branch with earbuds jammed in his ear, and if Sakura listened hard enough, she could hear the faint blast of his music.

She guessed that he hadn't noticed her crawl into the tree or he would have said something, and since he wasn't bothering her, she wouldn't bother him. Sakura turned back to her reading, leaving Sasori alone to listen to his music.

It was only a few minutes later when the bell rang; the loud ringing startled Sakura slightly. She snapped her book shut and jumped from the tree. It was mere seconds when she realized that Sasori had followed suit.

_How did he know class was starting? His music is way too loud for him to hear the bell,_ she mentally fretted.

_**He saw you leave. Duh, stupid,**_ her inner voice answered. Sakura almost cringed as her second personality suddenly decided to rear its ugly head. Inner—what she called her second personality—was one of the reasons she didn't like staying at home. Being at home meant she had a lot of quiet time, meaning that she had more time to listen to her crazy half gripe about what went on that day.

_Yeah, but I could have been just getting up to get something. How do I know for sure he's not just some creepy stalker?_

_**He was wearing a watch. Besides if **_**you're**_** never really seen around the school before class starts in the morning, why would you get up and reveal yourself after so many years of staying undetected in the mornings? I'm pretty sure he picked up on that.**_

_. . . Good point . . . _Sakura continued on to her first class, her nose buried deep in her book again. Reading and walking was a talent she had picked up long ago in order to avoid the gazes of the other students. It didn't stop them from slapping the book out of her hands sometimes or from shoving her over when she wasn't expecting it, but Sakura would always just pick up her book and continue on as if nothing had happened.

Once in her classroom, Sakura closed her book, placing it on top of her history textbook and notebook on her desk, and waited patiently for class to start. When the bell rang, signaling the start of class, her teacher instructed them to all take out a red pen—they would be doing peer reviews on their history reports. Sakura reached over in her pack, searching for a red pen, and suddenly she heard a loud thwack. She bolted upright in her chair and noticed that all her books and papers had been shoved to the floor.

"Gosh, you're such a klutz, Sakura," the girl sitting beside Sakura giggled. Ino Yamanaka. She was the most popular girl in their school and also the head cheerleader of their high school cheer squad. She had long platinum blond hair that was always pulled into a high ponytail, her bangs swept to the right side of her face. She had a dark tan, crystal blue eyes, and always wore the best clothes money could buy—in other words; she was the exact opposite of Sakura.

She and Sakura had used to be friends. But that was before Ino decided that Sakura was a freak just like everyone else had decided. Ino left Sakura to live the popular life, leaving the pinkette to struggle to regain her bearings.

Sakura didn't say anything as she picked up her things, refusing to play Ino's little mind games.

"Jeez, with as much as you talk you might as well be as useful as all those goth losers in this school," Ino snorted.

"That's enough, Miss Yamanaka," their teacher declared, ending Ino's babble.

Class continued with little to no more interruptions, and Sakura had a pretty peaceful morning. When the bell rang, she packed almost everything away and made her way out of the classroom with her nose buried in the book, weaving back and forth through the crowd.

Suddenly, she was walking down a silent and practically empty hall. It was strange since all the halls were usually loud and boisterous, but she kept walking; her class was not that far away.

Within that quiet hall though, there was enough peace for her to concentrate better on the story, and she had become more engrossed in the book. Her pace slowed, and when she rounded the next corner, she ended up walking straight into something.

Sakura jumped backward in shock and lost her balance, but instead of hitting the ground, like she had expected, a pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders, holding her upright. She then realized that she hadn't run into something, she had run into _someone._

The air was really tense as she glanced up through her bangs and came face to face with Sasori. She grew paler if that was even possible, her eyes locking with his. Everyone else in the hall didn't even dare to move as he decided what he wanted to do to Sakura.

"You really shouldn't read while walking . . ." he murmured, righting the now confused girl and walking off. Sakura stood still, trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened. When the bell rang, she inwardly swore and rushed off to her class. After apologizing to the teacher for her lateness, she sat down in her seat and started doing the class work.

Her class was acting really odd though. Instead of the usual chatter, everyone was whispering. Sakura didn't really care what they were talking about, it just intrigued her that they were so quiet about it. She shrugged it off, going through the motions and finishing her classwork. Once she was done she pulled out her book and started reading again.

She couldn't focus this time though. Her mind kept wandering back to the reason why the halls had been so quiet, and it wandered over to Sasori and how different he had reacted to her compared to her peers. He was nicer than she had expected him to be, or at least nicer than a lot of her other classmates made him seem.

_His eyes seemed so sad . . . _she thought to herself as she sat in her third block class, drumming her fingers on the desk as she waited for the bell to ring.

_**Out of all the amazing features that guy had, all you can think of is that 'his eyes looked sad'? I mean, come on. The guy was a total hotty with a capitol H,**_ Inner replied condescendingly. Sakura blushed several shades of red at that comment.

_What is wrong with you? I can't think like that about someone I don't even know. Even if I did know him, I still couldn't think like that; it's embarrassing, _she responded shyly.

_**You're no fun,**_ the voice pouted.

_And that's why I have you—to think perversely for me,_ Sakura grumbled. Inner was going to say something but was cut off by the bell, giving Sakura a chance to push the voice into the recesses of her mind.

This time Sakura walked through the hall without her book. She was afraid that she might run into Sasori again if she was reading. Though she soon regretted abandoning her book because now she noticed all the looks she was given as she walked down the hall. Sakura kept her eyes glued to the floor, feeling very out of place without her book.

"Hey, Freak!" she heard a too familiar voice call her. Ignoring the person she kept walking, not wanting to admit that she was used to being called a freak.

"Hey, Freak, I'm talking to you!" the voice shouted again, closer this time. Ino grabbed Sakura by the arm and turned her around. Sakura stood there, not looking at the blond.

"Let me see your Chemistry homework, I didn't do mine last night so I need the answers," the cheerleader demanded. Sakura stood there, waiting for Ino to let go of her arm, and within seconds she did.

"I'm talking to! Let me see your Chemistry homework," the blond snapped, putting one hand on her hip and holding out her hand to take the work. Sakura simply turned around and started walking away. Ino wasn't having that though, she grabbed Sakura by the arm, turned her around, and went to slap her but was stopped when someone suddenly grabbed her wrist. Ino hadn't noticed that the hall had gone quiet.

"It's not nice to hit innocent people," a soft voice declared, scaring the color out of Ino. "I think you should let her go," Sasori suggested, still holding on to Ino's wrist. The blond let go of Sakura as if she had touched a hot pan. Once Sakura was out of her grip, Sasori let Ino go and headed down the hallway. Sakura stared at his retreating form as Ino rushed away, now too afraid to even_ look_ in Sakura's direction.

_I wonder what that was all about . . ._ she thought to herself.

_**Ooh, maybe he llllikes you,**_ Inner giggled. (Happy reference! Yay!)

_In your dreams,_ Sakura scoffed.

_**That means it would be in your dreams too,**_ the voice replied, and if she had a body, Sakura was sure she would be waggling her eyebrows.

_No way!_

_**So then it's not in my dreams?**_

_Yes . . . I mean no . . . I mean, ugh! Shut up you're so annoying!_

_**Is it normal to call yourself annoying? Hm. . . Maybe you should get some help.**_

_Shut up!_

_**Nope.**_

_I hate you._

_**You don't have to like me; you just have to put up with me.**_

_Not if I really don't want to._

_**I guess . . . Wait, hey! What's that supp-**_

Inner was cut off as the tardy bell for her fourth period class rang.

_Shit! Now I'm late! Thanks a lot!_ Sakura thought, running. _That was my fourth tardy this semester too, so now I have detention._

_**It'll get better. Don't worry,**_ Inner assured.

_You really think so?_ Sakura asked.

_**Nah, I was just messing with you,**_ the voice laughed, making Sakura wish she could punch her inner self.

_Man, I'm such a jerk!_ she thought to herself as she shoved her inner into the depths of her mind again. She had finally made it to classroom and knocked on the door. Seconds later the door swung open, revealing her teacher.

"Hello, Miss Haruno. So nice of you to finally join us," he replied with a grim smile. "You do realize that this was your fourth tardy this semester, don't you?" he added.

Sakura nodded, staring dejectedly at the floor.

"You have detention with me tomorrow afternoon. Try to be on time," he declared and let her enter the classroom.

Sakura entered and made her way to the only area of available seats: in the back of the class. Usually she would sit in the front of the class so that she would be the first out of the room, but with her being late for class, it meant she had to sit in the back of the room. She put her bag behind her seat after pulling out her notebook, pen, and highlighter. It was only when she turned back around that _he_ came in her line of view.

Sasori sat in the back corner, staring out the window. He sat unaware of her gaze, but Sakura was sure if he turned his head in the slightest he would notice her. She quickly turned her head away from him, but couldn't do the same with her thoughts.

_When did he start coming to this class? _she questioned herself.

_**I do-**_

"Well, Miss Haruno, since you were late to class, it seems you will be paired with Mr. Akasuna. Since he is the only available person without a partner," her teacher declared.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. Mr. Akasuna will inform you of the procedure. Okay, class, take the rest of this time to discuss the project," the older man commanded.

Sakura glanced worriedly at Sasori before getting up and making her way over to the dark boy. She sat down in the seat next to him and stared at the speckles on her desk. Her face reddened in embarrassment at the thought of having to communicate with Sasori.

"For the project, we have to find a look-alike from before the late twentieth century, and then write a five page report on their life," a familiarly soft voice informed her.

Sakura jumped in her seat and looked at Sasori. She then turned away and stared at her desk.

"Then what is the relevance of being placed with a partner?" she asked quietly.

"Ah, she speaks . . ." Sasori muttered. "That's the difficult part. We have to find our doppelgangers in the same region, and we have to find a way that the two interacted in some way. Then based on that relationship, we have to write a short story that revolves around them—five pages max," he answered.

"Well, that shouldn't be difficult," Sakura murmured wryly.

"Why do you say that?" he asked.

"I honestly don't think there are a vast amount of females prior to the late twentieth century that have naturally pink hair," she replied, giving Sasori a look that said _I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that._

"Well, that's the tricky part. Iruka-sensei said that hair color, size, and age do not matter since many women starting with the early twentieth century and before didn't worry about dying their hair or maintaining a certain weight," he informed. Sakura wrinkled her nose in distaste, tempted to tell Sakura that her hair was _not _dyed.

"And then age would be irrelevant since it doesn't matter what the age of the person is as long as they resemble us," Sakura finished for him; Sasori nodded in confirmation.

It was silent for a few seconds before Sasori leaned in closer to Sakura and whispered quietly.

"You know, everyone is staring at us," he informed, the corners of his mouth twitching upward if only slightly.

Sasori's close proximity caused the shy girl to blush profusely, and when she glanced around the classroom to see that in fact everyone in the room was watching them out of the corner of their eyes. Sakura's eyes widened slightly and she immediately stared at her desk again, her hair falling in her face and hiding her blush.

"Why would they be interested in our conversation? I mean it can't be any more compelling than their irritatingly incessant chatter," the pinkette grumbled.

"It's not really our _conversation_ that's so interesting, it's our _talking_. They're amazed at the fact that we're actually speaking, when they've most likely spent all their time in high school trying to get either of us to talk and no one has succeeded," he explained.

"Well, then what sets me apart from the rest? Why would you talk with me?" she questioned.

"I have to in order to make a good grade," he answered with a straight face.

"Well, that doesn't necessarily mean you have to talk to me. You could communicate with subtle body language, the passage of the instructions to inform me of our task, or you could do your half of the project then pass it over for me so I can do my part," she suggested.

"True . . . And if you've made all those suggestions, why didn't _you_ choose one? What makes me so different?" he asked. Sakura paused at that declaration. She thought about how he had been so kind to her within the past few hours, and he barely even knew her.

"Because . . . You have been nicer to me in the past few hours than anyone has been to me in my entire life," she whispered, not looking him in the eyes.

Sasori didn't say anything more after that comment. He was silent for a few moments before clearing his throat.

"Well, then how do you want to do this project?" he asked her, changing the subject.

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we should divide the time we have to work on this project evenly throughout the days so that we may be able to record the information required thoroughly," the young girl babbled.

"You know when you talk a lot, you have a proper way of speaking," Sasori noted, raising a brow.

"Oh," she mumbled, her eyes widening in embarrassment, "I apologize if my babbling is difficult to comprehend. If you have trouble understanding I could use a more ignorant way of speech . . . I'm just a little nervous," she admitted.

"That's fine. I understand you. It's just an observation," he shrugged. It was quiet for a second.

"You know you're more tolerable than people portray you as. I was expecting someone cold and anti-social," Sakura observed.

"Those assholes think I'm some sort of dark lord because I wear dark clothing, and I don't conform to their social standards. They judge before they get to know someone," he scowled. Sakura flinched at his vulgar language but nodded in understanding. She glanced down at the project syllabus while Sasori fumed.

"Would you mind if I come to your house this afternoon from four to six. Based on this syllabus, if we spent two hours everyday after school on this project we should be done with research in time to take our time on actually writing the story. Do you have internet access?" Sakura asked.

Sasori raised a brow and nodded.

"May I have your address? So that I know how to get to your house?" she asked, knowing that she sounded weird.

"I'll just give you a ride. Are you a car rider, or do you have your own car?"

"I take the bus."

"Do you live in the area?"

Sakura nodded. "Just a few miles from the school."

"All right then. I guess I'll give you a ride home," he mumbled.

"You don't have to . . . I can just catch a bus. Besides I have to be at work at 6:45," she declared.

"You're working at such a young age?"

"Yes . . ."

Without another word, Sakura pulled out her book and started reading—her automatic go-to when she doesn't want to continue a conversation. Sasori didn't seem offended; he simply pulled out his sketchbook and started reading. His smooth fluid strokes across the paper soon made it difficult for Sakura to concentrate on what she was reading.

"It's not polite to stare you know," he replied.

"I'm sorry," Sakura blurted, not being able to come up with anything else to say, and turned away from him.

"Turn back around; I need the shape," he mumbled. Confused, Sakura turned back around, noticing that he was drawing the profile of a person with his or her head slanted to the side in curiosity. After finishing the outline of the body he told her that she could return to her book, but entranced by his drawing, she leaned closer to him to get a better view.

He started with the eyes, drawing them opened fully, then shading in the lashes, pupil, and irises expertly. After that he continued to the eyebrows, sketching them only slightly raised, only so much that someone with an expert eye would be able to notice it. He drew the nose and continued down to the mouth, where he drew them slightly pursed but with the bottom lip barely puckered as if the person was pouting. It only took finishing the eyes to let Sakura realize he was drawing a woman.

After finishing the woman's face, he started sketching a few lines above her eyebrows. It didn't take a genius to notice that he was working on her hair. Her hair ended up being long, spilling over her shoulders in a waterfall of curls. Sasori finished the picture by shading in the faint curve of her collarbone and then drawing the neck of the t-shirt she was wearing.

"That's a very beautiful picture," Sakura replied, looking up at Sasori's face. He smirked.

"It's a design," he declared.

"For what?"

"A puppet, or possibly a ceramic figurine."

"Do you make them?"

"Sometimes," he answered vaguely then stood up and headed toward the door. As soon as the door was opened, the bell rang and the students started rushing out of the classroom. Sakura remained in her seat, suddenly feeling a little better about working on the project with Sasori. At least she finally had something to look forward to.

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><p>Kitty-chan: Thanks for reading, and please review. Reviews make me a happy kitty ^_^<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Kitty-chan: I basically have everything prewritten, so I'll just leave the rest of the opening notes to be the disclaimer.

Sasori: Kitty-kun does not own _Naruto._

Kitty-chan: _-kun?!_

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

"This is your ride?" Sakura stared at the motorcycle, eyes wide, and feet frozen to the ground. Fear started gnawing at her insides as Sasori smirked.

"What? You scared?" he teased, and Sakura shook her head vigorously.

"N-no! I just . . . didn't expect you to have something like this," Sakura fumbled with her words for the first time, unable to come up with something decent enough to say. Sasori approached the bike and smirked.

"Don't worry, I won't let you fall," he teased, laughter glowing in his eyes.

"You promise?" she asked, still trembling slightly. Sasori stopped for a second, noticing that she was truly scared of getting on the motorcycle. His eyes glanced down to her trembling hands, which were clutching the hem of her skirt tightly.

"I promise," he murmured seriously.

Sasori handed her his spare helmet and climbed on the motorcycle. He jammed in the key and with a little turn, the beast roared to life. Sakura jumped and stepped back a little.

"Come on, Sakura," he coaxed, holding out his hand, Sakura's lip trembled as she stepped forward, timidly grasping his hand. He slowly pulled her closer to the bike and eased her on.

"Just hold on tight," Sasori instructed, revving the engine. This action caused Sakura to quickly wrap her arms tightly around Sasori's waist.

'_**Ooh! You are so lucky!'**_ Inner Sakura squealed excitedly.

'_Shut up! This is so scary!' _Sakura cried, she held on to Sasori a little tighter, making him grunt.

"Sakura, if you hold on any tighter, I won't be able to breathe," his muffled voice sounded over the noise of the engine.

"S-sorry," Sakura stuttered.

"Okay, we're about to start moving. Don't freak out," Sasori informed, Sakura nodded and pulled herself closer to the redhead. Suddenly, the bike lurched backwards a few feet and then with a slight jerk from Sasori, it proceeded to speed forward, Sakura shrieked at this sudden movement, pulling herself closer to Sasori. She could feel his back vibrating gently, and after only a moment, she could tell he was laughing.

"It's not funny!" she shouted over the roar of the motorcycle.

_**Yeah, it is,**_ Inner chuckled.

_You're supposed to be on my side! Why aren't you scared too?_ Sakura yelled.

_**Because I'm the side of you that's not a complete baby, **_Inner shrugged.

_You're so mean . . ._

_**Well, no one ever said I had to be nice.**_

_Why, dear, Kami? Why does _she_ have to be a part of me too?_

_**Because you need a backbone?**_

_I wasn't talking to you!_

Inner Sakura shrugged, and with a quick 'See you later' she disappeared into the depths of Sakura's mind. At this moment Sasori made a sharp turn, and Sakura let out another shriek, her arms constricting around her driver's waist. Suddenly, the bike slowed down and eventually pulled to a stop. Sakura still held on even when the engine had shut off and Sasori had removed his helmet.

"Sakura . . . We're going to need to go inside if you want to begin working on our assignment," he informed her. With her body pressed so close to his, he could feel her body trembling, and for a second he was scared that he had made her cry. That was until she jumped off the motorcycle, pulled her helmet off, pointed at him, and started yelling.

"That was not funny, Sasori Akasuna! Were you trying to give me a heart attack?" she shouted. There was a short pause before Sasori burst into laughter, doubling over at her outburst.

"What's so funny? I'm serious!" she shouted, a hesitant and confused look spreading across her face. It was strange to see the normally stoic and calm Sasori crack up.

Sasori couldn't help but to think about how cute she was when she made that face. He walked past her and made his way to the front door.

"You coming in?" he asked with a smirk, walking through the threshold. Sakura jumped into action, rushing to catch up with her project partner.

She shivered when she passed through the doorway. It was so much warmer inside than it was outside, and the house was brightly lit and clean—she hadn't expected that.

"Your house isn't at all what I expected," she noted aloud.

"What? Did you expect it be trashy, dark, and infested?" he asked with a blank stare.

"Well . . . Yes," this answer caused Sasori to scoff. "Well, you're labeled in school as a volatile and dangerous person, one can only infer that you must have some kind traumatic experiences at home that have an effect on your social interactions," Sakura babbled.

"Well I can assure you that I have had no kind of traumatic experiences at home. I actually live alone," he informed her, helping her out of her hoodies and taking off his own coat.

"Then why do people say you're so violent?" she asked.

"They saw me get in a fight with my friend Deidara one time . . . plus, I defend my friends. All my friends have that problem," he explained. "You want a drink?"

Sasori made his way into the kitchen, Sakura following closely behind him.

"Sure," she nodded, and, glancing at the clock, added, "We should begin, I only have two and a half hours before I have to be at work."

"Sure thing, just come back to my room," he shrugged, taking their two drinks with him. Sakura followed nervously, being in someone else's house was new to her.

The two sat at his computer for the next two hours, searching through thousands of pictures on _Google_ trying to find pictures of people that looked like them. They would crack jokes every now and then when a really strange looking person would pop up, claiming the person to look like him or herself. They would take turns at the monitor, scrolling down and searching through the pictures while the other lay on the bed and relaxed for a while.

By the time six 'o'clock rolled around, they both had headaches and their eyes were sore. Sakura stood, straightening her shirt. She started to leave, so that she would be able to get to the nearest bus stop in time to get to work.

'_**Ugh! I'm so tired! Do we have to go to work tonight?'**_ Inner whined.

'_Unfortunately yes,' _Sakura sighed. Inner didn't continue the conversation, instead, she proceeded to mutter about how Sakura was too hardworking, and hid in the deep abyss that was her mind.

"You know I really should give you a ride. It's not safe for you to be on your own this late," Sasori declared before she could make it out of his room. He had gotten up and was following her out when she turned to argue.

"I can take care of myself," Sakura mumbled.

"I know," Sasori shrugged, leading her to the door and helping her into her hoodies. He then pulled on his own coat and grabbed his keys.

"Then, why would you bother?" she asked in confusion. Sasori shrugged.

"Just trying to be nice."

"I don't need your charity," Sakura mumbled sarcastically as he ushered her out the door. She tried to hide her embarrassed blush with her bangs, and somehow he didn't seem to notice.

"So where to?" he asked, putting on his helmet. Sasori mumbled out her address and pulled on her own helmet.

"You sure you don't want me to take you straight to work?" he asked, seating himself on his bike.

"I'm sure," she answered, and climbed nervously onto his motorcycle.

~(^-^)~

_**This is so boring!**_ Inner whined as they sat at the counter. It was nearing eleven and Sakura was beginning to get tired.

_I know, but just bear with it. Our shift is over in half an hour,_ Sakura informed the annoying voice.

_**Why do you work here anyway? Why can't you just find a better job? **_ Inner questioned.

_We've discussed this, Inner. I've already had this-_

_**I know, I know**_** You've already had this job for a while, and it pays the bills.**_** I'm sick of hearing that crap. That Sasori guy lives by himself and he lives awesomely,**_ Inner suggested.

_But there's no telling where he gets his money. We really don't know much about him. Besides, it'll be much more difficult for me to find a better paying job as a kid than it would if I were an adult. We just have to bear through it for a few more years, and then we can find a better job,_ Sakura explained, ending the conversation. Inner didn't have anything to say to that and stayed quiet.

Suddenly, the bell over the door rang, and Sakura looked up to see who it was, only to blanch at the sight of Ino and her friends Tenten and Temari with Sasuke tagging along—Shikamaru, Neji, Hinata and Naruto were probably hanging out in the car. Sasuke went to the back of the store in the alcohol section and brought to the counter a few cases of beer.

"Three packs of Marlboro Reds in the soft pack," Ino giggled.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not authorized to sell tobacco products to minors or alcoholic beverages to people under twenty-one years of age," Sakura droned, her hands trembling slightly in fear.

_**They know we work here,**_ Inner hissed.

_I don't like this, Inner. I don't like this at all,_ Sakura murmured.

"Oh, really? But we're your friends, so you can just let it pass," Ino replied, getting Sasuke to pull his wallet out and pay for everything.

"Even still, I can't sell this to you," Sakura denied them, taking the items and pulling them behind the counter. Ino grabbed her wrist, and squeezed hard.

"You can let us, though; can't you?" she asked in a sickly sweet voice, batting her eyelashes.

"No," Sakura stated coldly, looking away from Ino's cold and penetrating eyes.

"Aw . . . What a shame," Ino giggled. "I guess we'll have to get something else then," she added watching as her friends walked into the isles acting like they were looking for something to buy.

"Maybe I'll get this," Tenten picked up a glass bottle of Coke in the freezer section and dropped it purposely. "Oops," she cackled, her friends joining in. This was about when Sakura pressed the emergency 9-1-1 button underneath the cash register, but to her horror, it didn't light up like it was supposed to when she did.

Temari rounded a corner and hit the side of the stand with her hip, knocking nearly all of the boxes of candies and snacks to the floor.

"Temari, you're such a fat-ass!" Tenten giggled, doing the same. She and Ino and Temari then stumbled through the clean isles to the drinks, knocking down snacks and candies as they went. Sasuke stood to the side watching as the girls pulled out bottle after bottle, drinking a sip out of each one and either saying they didn't like it or it wasn't fizzy enough, then they would throw the open bottle behind them where the sticky liquid covered the messy floor.

All Sakura could do during this was scream at them to stop, and watch in horror as Ino pulled out a pocketknife.

"Hold her down, guys," she cackled.

Sakura struggled as Temari and Tenten held on to her arms and Ino straddled her waist and ripped open her shirt with the knife, grinning maliciously. Sakura kicked her legs and willed her arms to break free of Tenten and Temari's grips, but to no avail.

"What should I write first?" Ino hissed gleefully.

"Freak!" Temari shouted first and Tenten and Ino joined in, chanting the word 'freak' over and over again.

_**No . . . they wouldn't . . .**_ Inner murmured, eyes widened.

Sakura let out a shriek as the blade of the pocketknife bit into the skin on her stomach. Each line Ino cut hurt worse than the last. And when Ino leaned back to check out her handy work, the word 'FrEaK' bled across Sakura's smooth alabaster skin.

"What's next?" Ino smiled. Sakura squirmed and writhed underneath Ino, tears blurring her vision and the pain making her head throb.

Ino continued to carve the words ugly, worthless, slut, whore, on her arms and chest. When she had finished that, she passed the pocketknife to Temari who continued to cut her hair in a way that would take months to even out again. Tenten snatched the blade from Temari and then scratched a smiley face (:P) on Sakura's cheek. By this point, Sakura was hurting too much to struggle.

Ino took one look at Sakura and got up.

"She's being boring now. Tenten, don't forget to grab the beer and cigarettes," she called over her shoulder as she sauntered out of the store.

Once the weight of her attackers was gone, Sakura curled into a ball, feeling the stickiness of the blood smeared across her stomach. She was just about to fall unconscious until the bell above the door chimed signaling someone's entrance, followed by someone screaming sounded in her ears.

"Call 9-1-1!" the voice shouted, obviously not alone, and there were rushed steps nearing the pinkette. No matter how hard she tried, though, Sakura could not focus on the person hovering above her.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" the voice asked hurriedly. In the background, Sakura could hear a male's voice giving off the gas station's address and telling them to send an ambulance.

"Can you hear me?" the woman repeated, but her voice was fading and Sakura's vision was getting blurry.

Before Sakura completely blacked out there was a loud bang and someone shouting her name.

"Sakura!" the voice shouted.

_That's funny, Inner. This one sounds familiar,_ Sakura thought sleepily.

"Oh, Kami, there's so much blood. Sakura, you have to stay awake," the voice called frantically. Sakura could feel a weird sensation on her body as if something was touching a numb limb.

'_**Tell them to shut up. We're trying to sleep . . .'**_ Inner muttered, her voice fading.

'_Huh . . . He sounds like he's in trouble . . . It's okay . . .'_ Sakura thought, willing her arms to move toward the sound, but despite her efforts, she couldn't. She mentally shrugged it off, thinking she was too tired for comforting people anyway. After that thought everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3

Konan: Kitty-san does not own _Naruto._

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

_Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . . _

Sakura reached out to shut of her alarm, but found that her arm was caught by something. She groaned in discomfort.

_Damn that stupid alarm . . ._ she thought to herself, furrowing her brows in frustration.

_**You're an idiot,**_ Inner sniggered.

_I am not. Why would you say that? _Sakura whined angrily.

_**Think about it: Do you remember coming home last night?**_ Inner asked. Sakura thought about it.

_Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . . Beep . . ._

Suddenly, flashes of what happened while she was at work crowded her brain, the images and feelings racing faster and faster under her eyelids in pace with each beep from the heart monitor that rang in her ears. She heard a shriek, a guttural sound that chilled her to the very bone. It only took a second to realize that she was the one screaming, the one letting out that loud blood-curdling shriek.

"_Make it stop!" _she yelled, the words clawing at her throat on their way out. By this time, a few nurses and a doctor had rushed into the room to see what was going on.

"Make what stop, dear?" one of the nurses asked frantically.

"Tell us, so we can make it stop," another demanded.

"You think it might be post trauma?" she could hear another nurse ask from somewhere else in the room.

"_Make it go away! The noise! It hurts!"_ Sakura shrieked, tears spilling out of her tightly closed eyes.

Suddenly, the beeping stopped, the images faded away, and the pain disappeared. She sighed in relief as she faded back into the black.

~(^-^)~

When Sakura woke up again, she was completely and utterly confused. She had no idea where she was. She wasn't in her room she knew that for sure.

_Where am I? _she thought to herself.

_**You're in the hospital, dumb ass,**_ Inner grumbled tiredly, seeming to have gotten up earlier than she had wanted.

_Then why is everything so quiet? I mean shouldn't there be some kind of humming or beeping from the machines?_ she asked.

_**You freaked out the last time you woke up because of the noise from the heart monitor. Once you were put to sleep, they made sure to mute everything in your room. They didn't want to take any more chances of you losing it. Once you were discharged, they came in here immediately and took out all of the machines. You're free to go whenever they get back,'**_ Inner explained helpfully.

Sakura nodded and sat up in her bed. She sat there for a while, waiting for someone to come and tell her it was okay for her to leave. When it looked like no one would be coming in for a long time, she sighed and pressed the 'call' button on the remote sitting on the nightstand next to her bed.

"Yes?" a timid voice answered.

"I would like to leave now," Sakura answered, her voice sounded hoarse and her throat hurt terribly.

"The doctor will be there in a moment to escort you out," the nurse replied, sounding relieved.

_Why a doctor? Wouldn't that usually be a nurse's job?_ Sakura thought to herself.

It wasn't long before a doctor hurried into the room, a man in a suit following close behind her. Sakura observed the business-looking man quickly before looking at her hands in her lap. The man was taller than the doctor, being male and all. He had dark skin with a scar across his nose, had dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail, and plain brown eyes that blended in with the rest of his features.

_**He's nothing special . . .**_ Inner mumbled, sad that the doctor was female and that the businessman—probably a social worker or a policeman—wasn't cute either.

"Miss Haruno, this man would like to ask you a few questions before you leave," the doctor said cautiously, brushing some of her short back locks out of her onyx eyes. Sakura sat in the bed, not moving, not saying anything. The man cleared his throat.

"Miss, Haruno, last night—we need to know—what happened to you?" he demanded.

Sakura said nothing . . .

"Is there anything at all that you remembered from what happened?" he tried a new approach since the last one failed.

Still nothing . . .

"Who did this to you? The cameras were down; do you know who did this?" he asked, starting to get a little irritated.

Nothing . . .

"Is there anything you'll say that will help us find the culprit," he tried again in a final attempt.

. . .

"You're not protecting yourself by keeping quiet," he sighed, giving up. Fishing into a pocket on the inside of his jacket, he pulled out a small white card and held it out to Sakura.

"Here's my card. If you have any questions or remember anything about the attack, or if you just want to talk, please don't hesitate to call," he sighed, then, turning to the doctor, he nodded his head and left.

The doctor gave Sakura a quick check-up before handing her a pair of fresh hospital scrubs—her clothes had been ruined—and telling her she could leave when she had changed.

It was already dark when Sakura started walking toward the nearest bus stop—that meant it could've been any time after six. She walked slowly and quietly, picking at her new bandages. The events of her attack dredged up memories from her past.

"**You'll always be a freak. Pink hair . . . humph!"**

_Mom . . ._

"**You're not my daughter. How can you be? You look nothing like me."**

_Dad . . ._

Tears threatened to spill over.

_**You're never going to be happy if you don't learn to let go of the past,**_ Inner's voice snatched her from her thoughts. The dam broke, and her tears spilled down her cheeks. She sat down on the nearest bench next to the sidewalk she was walking on and cried.

_**Come on. Quit crying you baby. You need to toughen up; don't let those bastards bring you down, **_Inner replied, cheering Sakura up a little.

_Thanks, Inner . . . _Sakura sniffled, pausing momentarily,_ You know, for once I'm actually glad that I have you . . ._

_**Right . . . Now get your ass moving, I'm starving,**_ she whined, and Sakura rolled her eyes and chuckled quietly.

_**You know, if people catch you like this, they might think you're crazy.**_

_They already think I'm a freak, what else can they call that can be any worse?_

_**Well . . .—**_

_Never mind. I don't want to know._

Sakura sighed, standing up and making her way to the nearest bus stop.

~(^-^)~

Sakura could tell it was really late when she made it home. The bus had taken longer than she had expected. When she reached the door she spied a note taped just below the knocker.

'**Sakura . . . Brought you your work . . . Sasori,' **it read. Sakura paused.

"That jerk! He could've asked how I was or something else stupid like that! Ugh!" she screamed, crumpling up the paper and shoving it in her pocket. She looked around for her work, spying a manila envelope lying at her feet. Suspecting that that was her work, she picked it up and went inside.

_Man, I need a shower . . ._ she muttered, tossing the envelop onto her couch and making her way to the back of the apartment to her bathroom.

After a quick shower, she was fully dressed and climbing into bed. She was just about to fall asleep when she remembered Sasori's note.

_Wait . . . Work?_ her eyes snapped open. _How could I have that much work? I was probably only out of school for one day._

She hopped out of bed and ran upstairs to check the clock on her stove. The small green digital letters said: _Sun 10:38 P.M._

_Sunday? That means I missed all of Friday, _she thought to herself.

_**Well, you did lose a lot of blood. To regenerate would take at least a few hours, **_Inner supplied, _**And then you freaked, so they gave you enough anesthetic to keep you asleep for a while so you could rest.**_

Sakura's mind was in total chaos. She fell into the nearest chair, trying to sort everything out.

_School starts tomorrow . . . How am I supposed to finish all that work?_ she cried. _I need to go get started!_

She jumped up and rushed downstairs.

'_**Yea-Wait! What?'**_ Inner shouted. _**'NOOO!'**_

Sakura returned to her room, grabbed the manila packet, and with a gulp slid all the papers out. On top of the stack of eight papers was a sticky note.

'**Just copy the work. I did it for you. You're a bright kid; you should be able to understand it. S,'** it read.

Sakura smiled and Inner heaved a big sigh of relief.

'_**Next time you see him, tell him I love him,'**_ Inner cried. Sakura giggled and blushed slightly.

For the next hour Sakura looked over all the notes and copied answers onto the worksheets given to her.

'_Sasori is actually really nice,'_ Sakura declared tiredly.

'_**Either that, or he's a stalker,'**_ Inner giggled, now at the point of exhaustion to which she became even more delirious then she was to begin with.

'_Don't say that . . .'_ Sakura trailed off, placing all of her notes and papers in the correct binders and turning off her lamp on her nightstand. She snuggled under the blanket, smiling softly as she drifted off to sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

Tobi: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

Sasori wasn't at the tree that morning. Sakura probably shouldn't have been bothered by it because he had only been just the once, but she couldn't help but to feel a little down.

When the bell rang, she hurried to her locker, quickly throwing her backpack in it, and made her way to class. It was then that she noticed that the usually loud chatter in the halls had been silenced to a barely audible whisper. Sakura glanced up from her book to make sure she wasn't about to run into anyone and to see what was going on and noticed a lot of people staring at her.

_Everyone's staring . . ._ Sakura thought worriedly to Inner.

_**Tell them to kiss your ass,**_ Inner grumbled back—she became grumpy when she didn't get much sleep.

Sakura stalled for a second, before taking slow, hesitant steps in the direction of her class. She pulled at the neckline of her hoodie, willing it to cover the bandages that were wrapped around her neck. Her head was starting to fill with dread and paranoia, wondering what had made them so curious all of a sudden. They had never bothered her before no matter how bad she looked. Why should having a few bandages make a difference?

Suddenly, she felt someone tap on her shoulder. Sakura jumped, whirling around to came face to face with a blue haired girl. The girl's golden orange eyes looked back into Sakura's foam green orbs, a worried glint swimming across their surface.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay," she replied, her voice sounded familiar. Sakura stared blankly at the girl, trying to figure out how she knew her.

'_**Why don't you just ask her, dumb ass, instead of standing there and looking like a retard,'**_ Inner commanded.

'_Retard is an offensive term,'_ Sakura murmured.

'_**Whatever,'**_ Inner grumbled.

"I apologize in advance for having to ask, but who are you?" Sakura asked.

The girl looked surprised, the surprise turned to embarrassment as she smiled gently.

"Oh, sorry. I'm Konan; my boyfriend and I are the ones who found you . . . you know . . ." Konan trailed off, not sure whether she should continue.

"**Hey! Can you hear me?**_" Konan's voice rang in her ears._

Sakura was pulled away from the short memory when she felt a hand being placed on her shoulder. She looked up.

"Are you okay?" Konan asked.

Sakura nodded. "I'm fine," she answered softly.

"Okay, then," the blue haired girl replied unsurely.

"Konan! Come on dammit! Pein won't be fucking pleased if his damn princess is late for the fucking meeting!" a loud obnoxious voice shouted.

Konan looked back at a boy who had bleach blond hair that was slicked back and had purple eyes. He was wearing the same hoodie—with the same peculiar logo on the front—as Konan. He had a scowl on his face, waiting impatiently with his arms crossed.

"Coming!" Konan called back before turning back to Sakura. "Here's my number," she replied, fishing into her pocket, pulling out a piece of paper, and scribbling a few digits on it. "Call anytime for anything," she smiled handing Sakura the slip of paper.

"Konan!"

"I'm coming!" the blue haired girl shouted back, Sakura stared in amazement as the sweet, kind girl—who had just been so nice to her—filled with rage, a murderous look glowing in her golden orange eyes. Konan stomped over to the male and followed him to wherever Pein was.

Sakura glanced down at the slip of paper she was given and thought in amazement at how Konan's handwriting looked so horrible. She expected it to be curly-queue or cute, but it was sloppy and crude.

_**You really are an idiot. Why are you wasting your time staring at someone's handwriting?**_ Inner complained as the bell rang.

Sakura sprang into action, wanting to get to class before she could get into too much trouble. When she reached her classroom, she knocked quietly and seconds later the door opened, the teacher stood in the doorway with a grim smile on his face.

"Glad to see you're back, Miss Haruno," he replied stepping out of the way so Sakura could enter. "It's too bad your absence hasn't fixed your punctuality," he added.

_**Go to hell! You have no fu-**_

_Just ignore him, Inner. What have I told you? _Sakura grumbled, making her way into the classroom.

_**But he-**_

_Ignore. Him._ Sakura demanded.

Once in the room, the hushed chatter of the classroom went completely silent. As she made her way to the back of the room, Sakura tried to ignore the stares that were boring into her. She was starting to feel uneasy and nervous; she felt that the bandages that were visible made her stand out more than usual.

In the back of the classroom, she continued as if the attack had never happened, as if she wasn't suddenly the center of everyone's attention. Everything was becoming normal.

So when the bell rang—signaling the end of class—she proceeded to pack everything up except her book and read as she walked to her next class and—once again—ran into someone as she was reading. This person was careful about where they grabbed her, as if they knew about where she had been hurt.

"That's that second time this month," a soft voice declared.

"Sorry . . ." Sakura mumbled nervously as Sasori righted her. He stared at her for a moment as if there was something he wanted to say, but something behind her caught his attention before he had the chance.

"Deidara," he greeted with a nod.

"Sasori, we have to go. The plans have been made, hmm," Deidara informed.

Sakura quirked a brow at his odd accent but shrugged it off and turned her attention back to Sasori—a malevolent glint in his eyes that made Sakura nervous. The two males left without warning, leaving Sakura stranded in the middle of the hall.

_**What are we? Chopped liver? I mean seriously! What the hell was that about?**_ Inner complained, upset that the guys had completely ignored them. Sakura shrugged.

_I guess we'll find out later,_ she sighed.

~(^-^)~

Sakura did find out.

The next day when she got to school she was surprised to not see Ino's group loitering around the picnic tables in front of the school. That's where they usually met up in the mornings.

But this day was different.

Ino was missing, as were all the guys in her group; Hinata was twiddling her index fingers and blushing every few seconds—like she used to do in middle school before she became friends with Ino—and kept tugging on the hem of her skirt and squeezing her legs tightly together; Tenten was wearing a toboggan _plus_ the hood to her sweatshirt was up and she was wearing sweatpants which was-weird since she usually wore a pair of shorts too short to be legal with a spaghetti strap tank top that revealed too much skin to really be called a shirt; and Temari looked like a four year old dressed her, her usual bad-ass, punk-rocker attire traded with a frilly pink tutu skirt, cheetah print leggings, white tennis shoes, and a lime green Disney princess shirt. All of them looked completely lost.

_**What . . . The . . . fuck?**_ Inner managed to get out between bursts of laughter.

_Just ignore it,_ Sakura commanded, shifting her eyes from the girls and returning them to her book—trying not to laugh along with her inner personality.

It wasn't long before Sasori met her in the tree with his earbuds in and a smirk playing on his lips. Sakura had guessed at the culprit, but now she knew who it was. She moved over to give him room on her branch and waited for him to take his earbuds out. As soon as he did, she started talking.

"Hinata?" she started.

"Aphrodisiac," he answered quickly.

"Tenten?"

"New haircut."

"Temari?"

"Nothing else to wear . . . Konan thought it was cute . . . For a two year old," Sasori answered with an evil grin. Sakura gave a small amused smile.

"Ino and the guys?" she finished.

"You'll see," he answered, a dangerous glint in his deep brown eyes.

Sakura couldn't help but start to notice that he had beautiful eyes. They held so many mysteries yet they were so open.

"You know it's rude to stare, little girl," he replied, breaking her out of her trance. Sakura looked away, a blush coating her cheeks, but returned her gaze almost immediately.

"You have beautiful eyes," she replied truthfully. A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips when she said this, but then was replaced with a mischievous smirk.

"Yeah . . . I guess you'd be pretty cute if you weren't such a nerd," he teased.

_**What? I know he didn't!**_ Inner shouted. Sakura had to force herself not to cringe at the volume.

"Oh, gee, thanks. Because, you know, every girl wants to hear that," she snorted sarcastically. It was silent for a few seconds.

"You're starting to open up a little more," Sasori observed.

"I guess that's what happens when you become acquainted with someone," Sakura murmured.

"I guess," he sighed. It was silent again.

"Have you worked on the project any while I was out?" Sakura questioned.

"Are you kidding?" Sasori snorted. "Who do you think I am, brat?"

"Sasori Akasuna? Unless I am mistaken," Sakura answered.

"And do I look like some kind of stupid slacker?" he asked irritably.

"No . . ."

"Alright then."

"So you have been working? Have you found anything?"

"Yes, and no. I haven't found _anything._"

"Well, if you had a scanner on your copy machine we wouldn't have this problem," Sakura sighed in disdain.

"Yeah, that does kind of hinder our progress," Sasori replied irritably.

"I didn't mean for that to be offensive," Sakura mumbled apologetically.

"I know," he grumbled.

"This project is just so frustrating," Sakura sighed.

"Don't you think that I know that?" Sasori snapped, suddenly losing his patience. It grew quiet yet again between the two.

"See you in fourth," Sakura muttered bitterly, jumping from the tree, the bell ringing as soon as she started walking away.

Sasori sighed in frustration.

"_Dammit,_" he hissed, punching the nearest branch, bruising and scraping a few knuckles in the process.

_How could I lose my temper like that?_ he scolded himself. _Girls are so sensitive. She's probably crying right now . . _. _Serves her right, though; she shouldn't complain so much . . . What am I saying? Kami, I'm hopeless._

He gave another sigh of frustration before jumping from the tree and making his way to his first class.

"Sasori, hmm," a familiar voice penetrated the chaos of Sasori's thoughts.

"What is it, Deidara?" he grumbled, not really in the mood for any of the blonde's antics.

"Leader said to meet on the roof, hmm," Deidara informed him.

Sasori gave another sigh, knowing that for this tardy he might actually get suspended; Baki-sensei absolutely hated him. What was worse was that Sasori hated being late no matter where he was going. He liked being punctual; and when Pein called for these before-class meetings, it pissed him off a little more each time.

_I guess I'd rather be at a meeting than in class anyways,_ he grumbled, cringing when the tardy bell rang.

~(^-^)~

Sakura found out what happened to Ino and the guys almost as soon as she stepped in the building. Pasted on every square inch of wall was a provocative picture of Ino with each of the guys.

Janitors were scurrying everywhere trying to scrape them off the walls before more and more students could rush in and see them. The few that did were either laughing too hard to be able to breathe or were shaking their heads and muttering something like 'slut' or 'whore' under their breaths.

It was bad. It was really bad.

But when Sakura saw it, she almost smiled.

_**Oh, my, Kami! Where the hell did they find pictures like these?**_ Inner cried through fits of giggles.

_I have no clue, and I don't think I want to know either,_ Sakura sighed.

_**I do! Man, this is Internet gold,**_ Inner laughed.

_You're such a jerk,_ Sakura grumbled.

_**You know it. Hey next time you see that Sasori-kid, give him a hug for me,**_ she replied, wiping stray tears from her eyes.

_Yeah, yeah . . ._ Sakura responded before tuning out the voice.

~(^-^)~

Everyone was already waiting on the roof when Sasori arrived, and he internally growled, wondering whose bright idea it was to invite him last, They knew that he had a patience problem.

"Well, now that we're all here . . ." Pein started. Everyone's heads turned to look at their leader.

"I called everyone here to tell you that because of recent vandalizing of the school—and protests from many angry parents who threatened to sue—I am being sent to an alternative school.

There will be no meetings of the Akatsuki or any new missions after I have left. I will be back in two months. You know what to do while I'm gone," he informed, saying his last statement as a dismissal. Everyone started filing off of the roof, whether it be through the door or through the windows in below classes.

"Sasori, before you leave," he called after the redhead who was trying to escape through the door, which was becoming increasingly difficult because Tobi was standing in the way, demanding a cookie from everyone before they could go through.

"Yes, Leader?" he asked approaching the carrot-top.

~(^-^)~

Sakura was actually in her class before the bell rang, thankful that she wouldn't be getting another detention. She gazed out the window, her focus deteriorating as the seconds flew by.

_Why so quiet?_ she asked her Inner, who usually by now was chattering away.

_**Thinking . . .**_ Inner answered.

_About what?_

_**Whether I should tell you or not.**_

_Tell me what?_

_**I don't know, I thought maybe by now you would be able to figure it out.**_

_Figure what out? Dammit, Inner, tell me!_

_**That you **_**like**_** him.**_

_Like who?_ Sakura was becoming more and more confused with every word that came from Inner.

~(^-^)~

"Don't get into too much trouble," was Pein's only reply.

"What do you mean?" Sasori asked.

"I mean in the next few days she's going to get a lot of shit from _them_, so don't go overboard," the orange-haired senior smirked.

"She? What are you talking about?" Sasori demanded.

"Sa-ku-ra," Pein sounded it out as if he was talking to a two-year-old.

"What are you talking about?" Sasori questioned, becoming irritated.

"You'll find out soon enough," Pein chuckled. Konan came to his side and they left the roof together. Sasori stood alone and confused.

~(^-^)~

_**Sasori,**_ Inner giggled.

'_What? What are you talking about? I don't like Sasori,'_ Sakura denied.

'_**Uh-huh . . . We'll see about that,'**_ Inner replied with a giggle and faded away.


	5. Chapter 5

Deidara: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto_, hmm.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

Sakura was nervous to go to her final class. She knew Sasori would be there, and they didn't really leave each other on a good note that morning. When she walked into the classroom—on time this time—she spied him sitting in his seat in the back of the class by the window. His face was extremely close to his desk and his hand, accompanied by a pencil, danced across the page of what she assumed was his sketchpad.

She made her way to the back of the classroom to sit by him, waiting for him to look up . . . or speak—whichever came first. When he didn't say anything she took the initiative.

"I'm sorry . . . About earlier today. If you're still angry, I didn't mean to upse-"

"Shut up."

Sakura stared at him in shock. His words were gruff and harsh. She really didn't think she had upset him that badly.

"I beg your pardon?" Sakura snapped back.

_**That was so not cool. I take back what I said about loving him,**_ Inner grumbled.

"You talk too much. I'm not upset because of some stupid comment you made this morning," Sasori sighed, relieving the paper of the harsh lines he had been scrawling.

"Oh, okay," Sakura murmured, her cheeks burning a pale pink and her eyes prickling in embarrassment. It was silent for a while.

"You know, you'd look cuter if you didn't look so sad all the time," she heard Sasori mutter, a light, teasing tone in his voice. Sakura gave a small smile in his direction.

_**What is he drawing?**_ Inner questioned.

_Don't be nosy,_ was all Sakura could say, but now that Inner mentioned it, she realized she was curious also. She leaned closer to Sasori, trying to get a glimpse of the picture. He snapped the book shut right as she got into seeing distance though.

"Hey," Sakura grumbled in protest, a pout taking over her features.

"No," Sasori replied bluntly. "It's a secret," he added when she showed no signs of moving away.

The pinkette sat up with a sigh, crossing her arms across her chest and pouting. "You know, you still haven't shown me the reason for that picture you drew last week," she informed him. Sasori exhaled loudly, raising a brow at her.

"I'll show you today," he replied with a smirk.

"You better. I'll hold it against you," she declared.

"Whatever you say," the redhead rolled his eyes.

~(^-^)~

It was another fear-filled ride on Sasori's motorcycle. Sakura clung to the redhead for dear life.

_**I swear he's making these sharp turns on purpose,**_ Inner exclaimed.

_I'm so kicking his ass when this is over,_ Sakura cried, holding on tighter. She could feel his back shaking and thought for a second that she was strangling him, but realized only seconds later that he was _laughing_.

_He's laughing at my pain,_ Sakura sobbed internally.

_**Jerk,**_ Inner mumbled.

When the ride was over Sakura leapt from the bike, not wanting to be anywhere near it anymore, and took off her helmet.

"You are such a jerk! How could you laugh at my suffering like that?" she cried dramatically.

"Easy," Sasori shrugged after taking off his own helmet. Sakura turned away from her redheaded companion, not really upset, but wanting him to think she was.

_**That's evil,**_ Inner chuckled.

_I know,_ Sakura grinned.

_**Yay! You're starting to take after me,**_ the voice exclaimed. Sakura smiled inwardly, but then blanched at the idea of becoming her inner.

_Oh, dear Kami, help me,_ she groaned.

"Come on . . ." Sasori's voice pulled her out of her thoughts. "Sakura . . . If you want I can give you lessons, and then you might be less scared," he offered, trying to cheer her up. Sakura paused, trying out the idea in her head.

"Really?" she asked hesitantly, turning around a little bit so she could look at him. He nodded. "Okay," she dragged out the word, still a little unsure.

_**Woo-hoo! Motorcycle lessons from a hot guy!**_ Inner cheered.

_Shut up! He's not hot; he's too much of a jerk to even be cute,_ Sakura grumbled, a slight blush dusting her cheeks.

_**Admit it. You like him,**_ Inner teased.

_Do not!_

_**Do too.**_

_Do. Not._

_**Do. T-**_

"Are you coming inside or what?" Sasori called from the doorway. Sakura blinked, shaking her inner's voice from her head and made her way inside.

"You sure do space out a lot," Sasori chuckled.

"So . . ." Sakura pouted. They made their way back to his room—after Sasori grabbed two drinks—and got started.

The two sat at the computer digging through what felt like hundreds of files, looking for people who resembled them in the slightest. After about two hours of this, Sakura fell back on the bed with a huff.

"How g-damn hard is it to find two fucking pictures!" she screamed in frustration, alarming her redheaded companion.

"Someone's got a dark side," he smirked, laying down next to her and trying to control the rapid beating of his heart as he glanced sideways at her. The dark blush creeping across her pale flawless cheeks matched the soft pink of her hair that was splayed about her head.

"S-sorry," she mumbled.

"It's cool . . . We'll go to the library tomorrow and use its copy machines to scan our pictures. I guess that'll be easier," he declared.

"Okay," Sakura sighed tiredly. It was quiet for a while as they rested.

"Show me why you draw those pictures," she demanded quietly and suddenly, which startled Sasori.

He flashed a small smile, stood up from the bed and stretched.

"Come on," he commanded and left the room. They entered another one across the hall, and Sakura was amazed at what she saw.

There was a desk with a small desk lamp in the corner sitting in front of the only window; it was cluttered with papers, pencils, strange looking knives, and wood shavings. Little wooden figurines and toy puppets were strewn everywhere, on the floor, boxes, shelves, anywhere where there was space for them—the random clay figurine fitting in among them. Each little ornament was painted uniquely and skillfully. A box labeled 'Paints' sat in the corner of the small room, and in the closet—the door had been taken off for all to see its guts—was a filing cabinet with each drawer neatly labeled. The walls were covered in papers, too, each a drawing of a different figurine or person; and stacked in a neat pile underneath a bulletin board on the far wall named 'Clients', were stacks of differently sized and shaped chunks of wood.

"It's a little messy and small, but it's better than nothing," he shrugged.

"It's amazing," Sakura breathed, fingering a wooden cherub whose curly locks had been painted golden blond. Pale green eyes glistened brightly, and her small cotton dress was snow white.

"Is this what you want to do when you graduate?" she asked turning to him after placing the cherub down in the spot it was sitting in. Sasori was momentarily lost in her excited gaze—her sea foam green eyes shining happily—before he mentally slapped himself and returned to reality.

"Yeah, I guess so. I make a decent amount out of them now, but when I finally start my own business I'll be able to make a lot more," he answered.

"Is it going to be like a toy shop?" the pinkette asked.

"Not really. It'll be more of an ordering business. I mean there will be merchandise in a small shop in town, but most of the custom-made products will be made online or with the manager at the shop. I'll be working at the shop, so taking those orders will be easy.

"I do make toys every now and then, and the shop might have a toy section mainly for infants and little girls, but it won't be all toys," Sasori explained.

He seemed to be so excited about what he was talking about. Sakura watched him smile subtly, his hazelnut brown eyes glowing with delight as he spoke of his plans for the future. She blushed when she realized she was staring, but it was cute to see him react this way when at school he was known as almost being as cold as the human ice cube, Sasuke Uchiha.

"All this sounds like a lot of work for just one guy to handle. What are you going to do if a big order comes in?"

"Deidara helps me out if I have big orders. He's a clay artist though, so while I carve he paints."

"That sounds like fun . . . How do you get so many customers? Do you already have an official ordering site?"

"It's not completely official, but it works for now."

Sasori started brushing the wood chippings off his desk and into the trash bin nearby. The bin was full of many unfinished creations; all of them were so beautiful—Sakura didn't understand why he would throw them away. She made her way over and lifted one out.

"Why didn't you finish them?" she asked quietly. Sasori was quiet for a while.

"I haven't been able to concentrate recently," he murmured, a barely noticeable blush dusting his cheeks.

"Why not?" Sakura asked, letting the little figurine fall back into the trash bin and moving closer to the redhead so she could see his face.

"I don't know . . ." he hesitated, feeling his heart pound in his chest as she neared him. He moved away, turning and busying himself with the insignificant task of tidying up his desk. Sakura stopped her advance.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered, controlling himself and then turning back to the pinkette who had busied herself with tinkering with a small puppet. She was trying to make the limbs move but was having a hard time with the strings.

Sasori smirked at the frustrated look she had on her face. He came up beside her, taking her hand—the one with the airplane in it—and using it to make the puppet move.

"It takes practice, but once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy," he murmured, taking his hand away and watching as she clumsily made the little marionette move. The wooden toy walked across the table in short, choppy, awkward motions. She smiled in excitement, looking back up at Sasori happily.

"I'm doing it," she replied.

She reminded him of a child who had just learned how to ride a bike without training wheels. Sasori gave her a soft smile.

"You know, I don't know why people say such awful things about you and your friends. You seem like a pretty nice guy to me," Sakura replied, engrossed in making the little toy move. Sasori's smile faded. He was quiet for a while as Sakura played and sighed in frustration over the little doll.

"Sometimes we do bad things," he answered.

"But through those bad things you do good," Sakura contradicted. Sasori furrowed his brow at this.

"How so?"

"Just because I'm a social outcast doesn't mean I don't know _why_ you do the things you do. You guys are _different_ and don't conform to the messed up society they've created, so people label you as bad," Sakura explained without really explaining. Sasori gave a little half smile at this.

"You know, maybe you _are_ a little cute . . . for a geek," he teased.

"And maybe _you're_ a little sweet for being a stuck up puppet boy," Sakura shot back with a slight giggle.

"You don't have to work tonight; do you?" he asked glancing at the clock.

"No, why?" she answered. Sasori got a sly smile on his face.

~(^-^)~

Sasori had taken her to an empty road in the middle of nowhere. Sakura was scared out of her mind, but she wanted to do it.

_It'll take away the fear,_ she kept repeating over and over in her head.

_**This is going to be so much fun,**_ Inner squealed excitedly.

Sasori had taught her how to brake, shift gears, and turn before they reached the 'practice area', and he expected her to remember everything.

"Are you ready?" he asked. She nodded hesitantly, her hands shaking on the handles of the motorcycle. "Alright. Go down this road about two miles and then come back," he instructed then stepped onto the shoulder of the road.

Sakura was shaking as she changed gears, pulled up the kickstand, and put a little slack on the clutch. The bike lurched forward; Sakura let out a shriek and braked the bike. Sasori stood hunched over laughing at the distressed pinkette.

"Shut up! It's not funny!" she yelled. She turned back to the road, taking a slow and steady breath to calm her nerves; she slowly released the clutch and let the bike move forward. Instead of braking though, she twisted the throttle to gain a little speed, zooming forward to about fifty miles per hour until she reached her turning point. She turned the bike smoothly, surprised at how easy it was to drive the bike, and allowed herself to go a little faster. Once she made it back to her male companion, she braked, put down the kickstand, and hopped off the bike. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as she laughed and danced around in excitement.

"I did it! Oh, that was so much fun! Thank you!" she exclaimed, hugging Sasori excitedly. Said man froze, blushing lightly, and Sakura released him immediately. "Sorry . . ."

"It's okay," he replied. "You did really well for your first time, geek," he teased.

"Gee, thanks," she replied sarcastically, rolling her eyes and smiling widely in the process.

"Do you think you can drive home?" he asked. Sakura blanched.

"N-not yet," she stuttered. "I need a little more practice."

"Well . . . We have a whole night," he declared. Sakura smiled. "This time you can give me a ride. I'm tired of just standing here," he replied. He waited as Sakura climbed back on the motorcycle and got on behind her.

Sakura drove again. She wasn't sure how long they had been out there. All she knew was at one point Sasori said they needed to go before his motorcycle ran out of gas. After filling up, he let her drive to her house.

Once home, Sakura balked.

"Oh, no," she murmured, stopping the bike in front of the house.

"What? What's wrong?" Sasori asked worried.

Sakura pointed at the driveway. In her neighbors' empty parking spaces were two black Mercedes Bens. They looked like they had been there for a while.

"They're here," she whispered.


	6. Chapter 6

Kakuzu: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

"**What is wrong with you?"** Mom.

"**What are you doing hanging around the likes of **_**him?"**_ Dad.

"**And why are you dressed like that? You look like you live in a homeless shelter."** Mom.

_**Hey. Cut it out. You're making **_**me**_** all depressed now,**_ Inner griped.

_Sorry, Inner. I just . . . I don't understand them sometimes._

_**You and me both kid. I mean seriously. What kind of parents say they came to check on you because they heard you got hurt, but then scold you for not being home when they get there? They're not even your legal guardians anymore, so why should it matter to them?**_

_I don't know, Inner. I don't know._

Sakura fingered her newly cut pink locks. Her parents had her hair cut to a little below chin length and had a straight perm put in it to keep it from curling or becoming wavy. She pulled on the hem of her new, _expensive_ blouse, which was a kind of shirt that didn't suit her style.

They were "gifts" from her parents. Sakura didn't even know why she was wearing the shirt—considering it was the coldest time of year and there was no way in Hell she was exposing her bandaged arms—but there was nothing she could do about her hair.

_They're more like reminders of what I could have if I went back to them. Fat chance of that,_ Sakura grumbled.

_**The shirt makes your boobs look smaller than they actually are,**_ Inner teased.

_Shut up! Pervert!_ Sakura blushed inwardly, restraining herself from covering her chest in embarrassment.

_**Come on, you know you can't help being little. And remember: I have them too,**_ Inner chuckled. _**Be proud of your tittles, young one.**_

Sakura scowled, trudging along and ignoring Inner's jabs. She didn't need remarks from her own inner personality to lower her self-esteem farther than it already was.

_**At least that makeover made you descent looking for once, even if you do almost look like one of those skanky preps,**_ was the last thought that got through the barrier Sakura was trying to put between her and Inner's minds. The comment didn't help her, though; it only made her feel worse.

From the time she had gotten home to the time she left for school, Sakura had been given a makeover. She didn't even recognize herself anymore. Her mom said she looked more lady-like, though, and her dad said she at least looked halfway decent. Sakura was just surprised that they hadn't gone as far as to dye her hair.

When she got to school, it was very weird for her. No one was there yet, but as she made her way over to her tree, she had a feeling Sasori would be there, and she wasn't sure how he would take her new appearance.

Sasori raised his brow at her as she climbed the tree. First of all amazed at how great she looked, not that she didn't look nice before, but she looked so different; and secondly, _because_ she looked so different. He didn't think someone could change so much in such a short period of time. Now that her shaggy hair was out of her face, he could see her better, and he was stunned at how pretty she actually was. She had a natural beauty that outshined any woman with professional make-up. Her pale, flawless skin had a slight glow to it, her cheeks flushed slightly—probably embarrassed by her new appearance—and her sea foam green eyes were shielded by long pink eyelashes.

"It's rude to stare you know," she muttered when she realized he was looking at her, her cheeks darkening to a bright red color. Sasori smirked.

"Well, you actually look cute, Geek. How am I supposed I react?" he teased with a smirk.

"Shut up," the pinkette grumbled, looking down at her hands, which were teasing the hem of her hoodie.

"Relax. It's a compliment," he replied, ruffling her hair.

"Thanks," she responded, her cheeks turning a color that put her hair to shame.

Silence settled between them. It was a comfortable silence though, unlike other awkward silences Sakura experienced when trying to make friends. This silence was a pleasant one.

It was so strange to the pinkette that she could interact so easily with Sasori. She had barely known him for three days, and they were acting as if they had been friends for years. She could tell he was being open in ways that were reserved for his closest friends, and she knew that she too let down her guard around him more than she had with anyone else.

_Is this what real friendship feels like?_ she questioned herself.

"I want to ask you a question," Sasori declared, breaking her from her thoughts.

Sakura turned her head toward him, an indication that she was paying attention.

"How upset would you be if I got detention?" he asked as a wicked grin spread across his lips.

"Why?" Sakura questioned with a raised brow.

"You'll see," he chuckled, and with that he jumped from the tree, the bell ringing not long after he had started walking away with his hands crammed in his pockets.

Sakura smiled softly, getting down from the tree herself and making her way to class. She pulled one of her favorite books out of her school bag as she did so and read as she walked—the distraction keeping her eyes away from the people she knew would be staring at her.

Once in the classroom, she made her way to the back of the class, a habit she had picked up from her redheaded English partner. She continued that morning just as if it were any other morning: ignoring anyone who tried to talk to her or trying to making fun of her and read until the bell rings and Asuma-sensei, her math teacher, started his lecture.

About ten minutes into class—Asuma-sensei had started to get into the explanations of how to work a certain equation—a knock sounded on the door. Asuma sighed, opening the door to the classroom, fuming at whoever had the guts to interrupt him at the starting of class.

All the quiet chatter in the room ceased as soon as he opened the door. On the other side were Konan, Deidara, and some dark haired boy Sakura had never met before, all wearing the same black hoodie with a red cloud on the front. Standing in front of Asuma were _three _Akatsuki members—the Akatsuki being well known around the school as an organization of vicious teens. Sakura sniggered inwardly at the class's reaction and flashed a small smile at Konan.

"What do you need?" Asuma asked gruffly.

"We've been given new schedules, and this is the first class. Sorry for being late, Asuma-sensei; we've only just received them," Konan answered politely before either male companion could do so. "There's another student coming too, but he was held back in the office," she added.

"Isn't it a little late for you three to be changing classes?" Asuma grumbled. Konan and crew took that as their cue to sit down.

The three made their way to the back of the class and sat around Sakura, who looked up and raised a brow at Konan. The blue haired girl smiled back, pulled out a piece of paper and wrote down her explanation.

_It's a secret sorry. We promised to let Sasori tell you. But we should be in all of your classes now. The principle thinks it's a good idea too, that maybe you could be an influence on us, _she wrote. Sakura scanned it quickly and started writing.

_Sasori's going to be here? And who's the dark haired kid?_ Sakura wrote. Konan smiled at her response.

_His name is Obito, but we call him Tobi. Don't ever make the mistake of calling him Obito. Don't ask; just trust me, _she scribbled. After reading it, Sakura stuffed it in her pocket, not wanting Asuma to see it as he made his rounds while passing out worksheets.

As Sakura worked on her worksheet, she would look up every few minutes, willing there to be a knock on the door—any indication that Sasori had arrived.

_**Aw! You **_**do**_** like him,**_ Inner teased.

_Do not,_ Sakura grumbled, trying to keep herself from blushing.

_**Come on. You'll feel a whole lot better once you get the weight of the confession of your chest, and then maybe get a certain redhead on-**_

Sakura was jarred out of the conversation when something hit her shoulder, or _someone_ brushed past her. Sakura looked back to see Sasori seating himself behind Konan, and her face turned ten new shades of red. She looked away before he could spy her blushing.

_I hope he didn't see me,_ she pleaded to whatever god was listening to her thoughts.

"Quit spacing out, Geek. We're in class," he smirked.

"S-sorry . . ." she mumbled, twiddling her fingers shyly.

Konan and Deidara watched their interaction in amazement—Tobi was too busy playing rocket ship with his pencil to notice. They had never seen Sasori act so openly with another person, not even Deidara who was his best friend. And the fact that the person was a _girl_ was even more shocking. Sasori wasn't gay—not by a long shot—but he was just more of a loner. For him to be having a decent conversation with someone other than a member of the Akatsuki was astonishing.

The minutes dragged by.

_**Ugh! I'm so bored!**_ Inner kept grumbling every few seconds.

Sakura, having already finished her worksheet along with Konan, Tobi, and Deidara talked in hushed voices along with the other teens that had "finished" theirs. Sasori sat bent over his sketchbook, his pencil-filled hand flying across the page.

_**Go see what he's drawing,**_ Inner commanded.

Not really being one to listen to her inner, Sakura refused. But curiosity got the better of her, and she bent forward, trying to get a glimpse at what he was drawing, but like the day before, he snapped the book shut right as she got into seeing distance.

_**Damn him! **_Inner hissed.

"Nope," he replied.

"Jerk," the pinkette grumbled.

"Geek," he shot back.

"Puppet boy."

"Loser."

"Ugh! You're impossible!" Sakura exclaimed, letting her head fall to the desk. Sasori chuckled as she lifted her head enough to glare at him.

"Got to be smoother than that, Geek," he declared in victory, plucking her forehead.

_**How could you lose so easily?**_ Inner cried.

At that moment, the bell rang. The five grabbed their book bags and left. As they walked through the halls, Sakura was amazed at how the other students were very aware of the Akatsuki members, how they seemed to do everything in their power to avoid contact with them.

"Why do they do this? You guys are a bunch of goofballs, not murderers," Sakura laughed quietly.

"We've had our moments," Konan shrugged. Suddenly the white haired one Sakura thought was called Hidan approached with another guy that had dark skin, dark brown hair, vibrant green eyes, and his hood pulled up—and with the stitches tattooed to the sides of his mouth, he looked kind of evil.

_**Ooh! Hot guys alert! **_Inner cheered.

_Ew . . . You have weird taste,_ Sakura inwardly grimaced, trying to wipe up Inner's drool.

"Konan," hoodie-guy said.

"Kakuzu. Is everything going according to plan?" she asked. Hidan burst into laughter.

"Hell yeah! It should happen any fucking second," Hidan interrupted. Sakura noticed Kakuzu's eye twitch right before he hit Hidan in the back of the head.

"What the hell?" the obnoxious male shouted, glaring at Kakuzu.

"Must you be so loud?" he grumbled.

"Shut the fuck up you old bastard. I can be as loud as I fucking want! Seriously," Hidan muttered.

Konan sighed, turned and started heading toward their next class. "See you guys," she declared, waving back. Sakura and the others followed closely behind, leaving Hidan and Kakuzu to stand in the hall and bicker.

"Is he always like that?" Sakura asked, thinking back to the last time she saw Hidan.

"Unfortunately yeah, hmm," Deidara sighed.

"Tobi thinks Hidan-senpai is a _bad_ boy," Tobi said, finally speaking out among them. "But Tobi is a good boy; right Konan-chan?"

_**Aw! He's so cute!**_ Inner cooed, begging Sakura to give the boy a hug.

"Yes, Tobi is a good boy," Konan replied with a slight chuckle.

"Yay!" Tobi exclaimed, zooming away in a childish manner only to run back and tackle Sakura in a hug. "Tobi likes Sakura-chan! He thinks Sakura-chan is really pretty!" he shouted happily.

Sakura blushed furiously, her eyes wide in surprise. Suddenly, the male was yanked off of the pinkette, Deidara dragging him away.

"Stop, Deidara-senpai!" the boy cried, reaching toward Sakura.

"Shut up, Tobi, hmm," the blond griped.

Sakura watched the two, frozen from Tobi's surprise attack. She felt a tap on her shoulder, jumping to life.

"Come on, we'll be late if you stand there like an idiot," Sasori grumbled irritably.

_What's got his panties in a twist?_ Sakura muttered.

_**Ooh, somebody's jealous,**_ Inner laughed.

_I'm not jealous of anyone._

_**Not you, dumb-ass. Sasori.**_

_Why would he be jealous?_

_**You are so clueless—his woman was just hugged and called cute by another dude. I think that calls for jealousy.**_

_I am _not_ his woman! _Sakura shouted, blushing furiously.

"Hey, Geek. Pay attention," she was jerked out of her mind when she felt Sasori poke her in the side. Sakura looked around her, wondering how she could have made it all the way to class without realizing it.

"What?" Sakura whispered back, the teacher had just started the lecture. When she looked around, Ino and gang—who were usually chatting it up at this point—were missing.

Suddenly there was a loud banging on the door. When the teacher opened the door, the four girls charged in, drenched in some kind of green goop. They scanned the room for the four Akatsuki members—who were laughing their asses off by this time—and started towards them.

"Hey! What is going on here? What is all over you?" the teacher's shouts were ignored as Ino got in Sasori and Konan's faces and growled.

"What have you _done?"_ she shrieked.

_**Uh-oh. Princess looks pissed.**_

"I haven't done a damn thing . . . But I will admit, green does suit you, Princess," Sasori answered, an evil glint in his eyes and a wicked smile in place.

"_Liar!_ This is _Prada!_ and you ruined it!" Ino screamed.

"We _told_ you: we didn't do anything, and unless you are deaf, I'm pretty sure you heard. Or is that blond head of yours really as empty as people say, and you just couldn't comprehend what you didn't want to hear," Konan replied with her own evil smile.

"I'm pretty sure the only thing that pretty head of hers comprehends in hearing are the grunts of the guys she's giving a b-job to, hmm," Deidara chided.

_**Ha! Take that you spoiled bitch!**_ Inner laughed. Sakura inwardly gave her high-five.

"Deidara-senpai! Don't use such words!" Tobi giggled.

By this time, Ino's face was red. At first Sakura thought it was with anger, but another look at her wet eyes showed that it was with embarrassment. The teacher had given up calling order on the group, and sat at her desk to wait for the commotion to end.

"You guys are so dead! When I tell my daddy, you're going to wish you had never messed with me!" the blond shouted, tears spilling over as she ran from the room.

Sakura and her new friends burst into laughter as Ino and her friends retreated, their respective boyfriends trailing after them, looking back at the laughing group in disgust. Sakura didn't care; she hadn't had this much fun in a long time.

_**Oh, man. Being evil is so much fun,**_ Inner replied.

_You can say that again. She got what she deserved, _Sakura agreed.

"Akasuna. Haruno. Uchiha. Deidara. Konan. Office. Now," the teacher ordered, pointing toward the door. The laughing group grabbed their packs and left the classroom, not caring that they were in trouble.

"Where did you guys get so much goo?" Sakura questioned, trying to slow her laughter.

"I don't know. We didn't do it," Sasori answered with a shrug.

"Seriously?"

"We're menaces, not liars."

"Go figure. So who did it?"

"Zetsu. He's a botanist," Konan butted in.

All five of them burst into laughter again, the sight of Ino and Co. covered in green goop was too much to not laugh at.

"So this is why you changed schedules?" Sakura questioned once their laughter had died down.

"Yeah (hmm)," all four answered.

_**This is going to be great,**_ Inner cackled, and Sakura smiled in agreement.


	7. Chapter 7

Hidan: *sigh* Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto_, seriously.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

If Ino and her friends thought they were getting off with what they just got, they were wrong. Every day for about a week a new prank was pulled on the group.

Day 1: As described in Chapter 6 (Konan did it but Pein took the blame; he went to alternative school for all the previous damage and that day's damage).

Day 2: the girls were gooped; the guys had hot pink Sophie shorts and lime green spaghetti strap tank tops in place of their gym clothes, and were made to wear them (Zetsu and Deidara were suspended for one day).

Day 3: Ino and friends' clothes shredded during gym; tons of vibrators fell out of the guys' lockers with notes saying 'Bet you fucking need these dickless' between each class (Kisame and Hidan were suspended for two days).

Day 4: Diary readings—Ino and her friends' diaries were read aloud over the intercom during lunch; the guys' phones going off in every class and between classes, the ringtone being _Barbie Girl—_somehow they managed to keep their phones (Itachi and Tobi were suspended for two days).

Now it was day five. Everyone in school, especially Ino and Co., was anticipating the next prank, wondering whom it could be that was doing the prank next. Sakura met up with Sasori at their tree, a usual meeting place for them even though Sakura had no need of hiding there anymore.

"So what do you have planned for today?" Sakura asked Sasori, having grown closer to the boy since the beginning of the week. Especially since they finally found their look-alikes—after spending several hours at the library—and had more time to goof off. The pinkette had grown close to _all_ of the Akatsuki members, but not as close as she had to the redhead. Everyone else was starting to notice this too.

"_We_ are just going to do a little terrorizing and possibly get suspended," Sasori answered.

_**Bad influence alert!**_ Inner screamed with joy.

"We?" Sakura questioned.

"Just some minor vandalizing to let them know we care," he smirked evilly.

"Cars? Lockers? Clothes? What are we talking about here?" Sakura smiled sweetly, liking the idea of getting revenge herself.

"All of it," the redhead answered.

~(^-^)~

"Their cars have words scratched all over them, permanent markers were used on the lockers, their clothes have vulgar words written on them in permanent markers and there are vulgar remarks cut into them, and just about every piece of their private property is ruined," Tsunade fumed. She wasn't just angry; she was _pissed._ Not only had they ruined private property of students, they vandalized school property. The other Akatsuki members had ruined some of the students' property, but they hadn't gone as far as to do any damage to the school.

"Haruno, what has gotten into you? I'm used to it from you, Akasuna, but, Haruno, besides the random tardy, you're a perfect student," Tsunade sighed. "What am I going to do with you two?" she grumbled, letting her head fall into her hands.

"You could just let us go with two days suspension and K. P. Duty for the semester?" Sakura suggested, hoping that it would work, and it did.

"You bet your ass I will! And I swear, Haruno, if you and your new friends make any more stunts, all of you will be sent to that alternative school with Pein. Do I make myself clear?" the woman snapped. Sakura and Sasori nodded.

"You're dismissed, now go home," Tsunade demanded, waving them off.

Once out of the school, Sakura and Sasori burst into laughter.

"Oh, my gosh! The look on her face," Sakura started.

"Priceless," Sasori finished.

The two made their way over to his motorcycle, Sasori sitting up front, and Sakura sitting behind him, no longer scared of the two-wheeled beast.

"My house?" Sasori asked, and Sakura nodded.

"We might as well start working on our project. Isn't it due two weeks from now?" she asked.

"Yeah . . ."

"Can I crash at your house? I don't have work tonight, and I don't really have anything to do for the next two days," Sakura sighed.

"Sure," the redhead shrugged. "You want to swing by your place and get a few things?"

"Might as well . . ."

~(^-^)~

"Let's start with yours. Guys are so much easier to research for," Sakura declared, pulling out the pictures of the look-alikes with their names scrawled underneath them. "The guy's name is Nathaniel Linch."

"Okay," Sasori pulled up the Google search page and typed in the name. The picture of Nathaniel and a website to go with it popping up at the top.

"It's amazing how much you two look alike," Sakura murmured, bending over beside him to get a better look. The only difference was that everything about Nathaniel—his hair, his skin, his eyes—was slightly darker.

"Look who's talking. Yours even has the pink hair," Sasori declared incredulously.

"Touché."

"Let's just get this over with."

He turned back to the computer. They searched for almost two solid hours before giving up and starting on Sakura's look-alike. Envy Ashcroft.

Sakura typed it in the search bar and only seconds later a website for her look-alike popped up at the top of the results. There was no picture, just the title that said _The Diary of Envy Ashcroft (1641-1672)._

"Wow. She lived a young life," Sasori commented, bent over with his head resting on her shoulder so he could see too.

"Yeah . . . I'm pretty sure your guy was pretty young too," the pinkette responded quietly, she backed out, looking back at the Nathaniel guy. The date for him was 1637-1672.

"They died the same year. That's got to be some kind of connection," Sakura inferred.

Sakura went back to Envy's diary and clicked on the site. When the page popped up, the number at the top of the screen to show how many pages were in the document read 689. Sakura's head fell on the keyboard with a loud clack.

"This search is going to take forever," she groaned.

"Just hit control 'F' and search my guy's name. that should narrow it down to just a few pages," Sasori suggested.

Sakura did as instructed, but resulted in 0.

"I guess it's a good thing I like reading," she sighed, searching for a bookstore that would have a copy of the diary. The only place that had it was a shabby looking bookstore a few towns over, and it only had one copy. She clicked the hold button on the site and exited out of the Web after getting directions to the store.

"Ready for a road trip?" she asked her redheaded companion.

Sasori sighed, and with a light chuckled, he grabbed his keys. They were off.

~(^-^)~

The trip didn't take as long as they thought it would. They were back at his house by about nine that afternoon.

"Again: why couldn't you have just printed it off the internet?" Sasori asked, massaging his neck after the long trip.

"It wouldn't have been as much of an adventure," Sakura chirped, hopping on his bed with the book. It looked like an old leather-bound volume, stitching in the side to hold it together.

"Oh, no. This is my bed. I am not sleeping on the couch," Sasori protested.

"Who said anything about you sleeping on the couch?" Sakura retorted.

"Where are you going to sleep then?" Sasori asked after a pause.

"What? Never slept in the same bed with a girl before, Puppet Boy?" Sakura teased, her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink.

_**You've never slept in the same bed with a boy before,**_ Inner reminded the pinkette.

"I've never slept in the same bed with a geek before," Sasori grumbled, causing Sakura to hesitate, but then a sly grin crept across her lips.

"So you've slept in the same bed with a girl before? How was it? Was she warm? Did she cuddle? Did you have sex, or are you still a virgin?" she asked question after question, not giving him time to respond. With each question his face grew redder and redder, almost a shade that would put his hair to shame.

"Like you've ever slept with a guy before. I bet you'd be just as embarrassed, Geek," he shot back.

"Getting a little defensive are we?" Sakura chuckled. "Come on, Puppet Boy, I was just kidding. I'll sleep on the couch if it makes you feel better."

"Do whatever you want, Geek," he muttered before turning to his computer and starting to research on his look-alike.

Sakura sighed and went to start reading the diary. When she opened the book though, she nearly fainted.

"Holy crap!" she exclaimed.

"What?" Sasori questioned, turning around in his seat.

"This is the actual diary," she answered in amazement. "It's got to be like 350 years old at the least," she added.

"Why would someone sell an artifact like that?" Sasori questioned. "It could be something important to history."

"I don't know," the pinkette shrugged. "I'll email them later I guess," she added before cracking open the old book and started reading. (AN: I don't speak 17th century language, so deal with it)

_Dearest Journal, 14 May 1653_

_I guess I can call you that. It is my birthday and I have been given this book as a gift, and it would be rude not to write in it. I thought I might as well just use it as a journal._

_It was given to me by Mother. She says that when she was my age, she was given a journal as a wedding gift. I think that might be a foreshadowing of something. I don't want to get married. At least not this young._

_Sincerely Yours,_

_E. Ashcroft_

Sakura couldn't help but not that her look-alike's handwriting was similar to her own. She looked down at her hand before continuing to read.

_Dearest Journal, 15 May 1653_

_I was right. It was a foreshadowing of my betrothal. I do not want to get married. What if I am not a good wife? What if I cannot cook the food he likes? What if he does not like me? What if I do not like him? Will he be a good husband? I do not want to get married, Journal. I am scared._

_Sincerely Yours,_

_E. Ashcroft_

Sakura started to feel sorry for the girl. She was only . . .

_**Sixteen,**_ Inner supplied for her.

Right. Sixteen. That was her own age. By her age, Envy was arranged in a forced marriage. It wasn't right, but Sakura guessed that was life in that time. She continued reading, the sad tales of how she met her husband, how the man was a sexist slob, and she only wished she had the courage to run away, then she wouldn't have to marry such a pig. For several weeks, the entries were nothing but fantasies of some prince coming to save her, or how she ran away and lived happily ever after becoming a physician.

_**Wow. This chick is becoming more and more like you by the word,**_ Inner commented.

_I know . . . It's scary. . . Oh, my gosh. Please don't let this be a sign that my parents are going to be jerks and arrange a marriage for me,_ Sakura cried.

_**Please don't. Then we won't get to be with that sexy redhead,**_ Inner replied slyly.

_Sh-shut up! That is _not_ why I don't want to have an arranged marriage,_ Sakura defended.

_**You keep telling yourself that,**_ Inner teased.

_Kami! I'm such a jerk,_ Sakura grumbled, returning to the diary.

~(^-^)~

Sasori sighed in defeat, leaning back in his desk chair. He had been searching for two hours for connections between Envy Ashcroft and Nathaniel Linch. He hadn't found anything.

"Have you had an—" he stopped himself from saying anything else. Sakura had fallen asleep, the diary laying open next to her, and a pained expression on her face. The redhead sighed again.

"What am I going to do with you," he whispered. The young pinkette whimpered, curling up into a ball. She was cold.

Sasori stood from his seat, closed the diary and put it on the nightstand, then he lifted her slightly, pulling the covers out from underneath her, and covered her up so she wouldn't freeze.

"You are such a pain," he grumbled, taking a spare cover off the foot of the bed and heading for the living room. "I guess _I'll_ be the one sleeping on the couch."


	8. Chapter 8

Zetsu: Kitty-chan does not own _Naruto._

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

For the entire two days they were suspended, Sakura couldn't put down the diary. She was riveted after about the twentieth entry:

_Dearest Journal, 4 June 1653_

_I met someone in the village earlier this morn. He was a very interesting man. I had never seen him around before, and he had these peculiar looks. I will not speak of them in case my husband were to find this journal, and then he would forbid me to go to the village._

_This man he was a handsome man, and very nice to the village children, unlike my husband who would pinch them or knock them out of his way if they were to cross his path. He seemed rude and cold at first, but when a toddler walked past him—one who seemed to have just learned to walk—and stumbled, the man caught the child, making sure he was okay before sending him off with a small toy. He gave the child a small but gentle smile and the babe laughed. I had not expected that to happen._

_I approached him, wanting to converse and hoped to make a friend, one hopefully my husband would not discover, since he is a very jealous husband and does not let me associate with anyone, even the women of the village. I asked him where he bought the toy, since it was well crafted and must have cost a fortune. I wanted to repay him, since the children in the village were of my responsibility sometimes when the other women were at work. At least that is how I made my pay._

_He told me he had made it himself; I did not believe him, but when he made an identical one right before me, I was amazed. He gave me the one he had just made; I tried to refuse, but he would not have it. It sits hidden in my wardrobe, underneath the skirts of the few dresses I have. My husband will never look there._

_The man told me he would be in the village for the entire week, and he would be delighted to see me again. I want to go back and see him, but I do not know whether my husband will let me leave the house two days in a row. I will just have to convince him that there is a certain cloth I want that I must have a discussion about with one of the merchants in the village. Maybe that will help me receive permission to go into the village. My husband really is a swine._

_I cannot wait to see the nice man again. Tomorrow, please come faster._

_Sincerely Yours,_

_E. Ashcroft_

After reading this, Sakura sat on Sasori's couch, contemplating for hours _who_ the mystery man could be. She read the next few entries several times but the only sign of figuring out the identity of the man was the letter N. Sakura read the events of the week that Envy had with N. noticing how her entries seemed to get happier and happier. She noticed when N had left because Envy had become noticeably depressed. Her husband had even noticed it, buying her a new dress, some lace, and several other material items to make her happy, but nothing worked.

Envy went to into a state of depression for several weeks, smiling every now and then for the children to make sure they still thought she was a happy delightful woman. It wasn't long before the children started to notice that she was unhappy. They would do everything their little minds could think of to cheer her up, and for a while it worked. It wasn't long before she fell into depression again. No matter what anyone did, she was always feeling down.

It wasn't until two months after N had left when she cheered up again. She never explained why, she was just spontaneously happy. Sakura thought for a moment that Envy had gone insane, but then she explained herself. N had come back and Envy was going into the village more often to see him.

Sasori watched Sakura as she progressed through the book, by the first day she had read the first half of it.

"Is it really that interesting?" he asked. She was three-quarters of the way through. She looked up at him, her eyes slightly glazed over; she looked like she was about to cry.

"What? Did I say something?" he questioned, quirking a brow at her.

"Oh, sorry," she smiled, wiping the wetness from her eyes. "Something sad happened," she added, closing the book after sticking a spoon between the pages.

"Umm . . . I'm not going to ask about the spoon . . . Have you found anything out?" he asked.

"Oh, umm, not really. She got the book, signifying that she was getting married even though she didn't want to get married. Not too long after her marriage, she met someone, and every time he would visit she would be happy and when he would leave, she would be sad. Later on she realizes that she loves him, and she ends up getting really sick. This seems to bother her husband, and he starts acting cruel toward her," she described.

"Does it say who the man she's in love with is?" Sasori asked, raising a brow at the goings on in the diary.

"No . . . she notifies him as N. she doesn't even describe what he looks like," Sakura answered. "Maybe I'll get an answer by the end. Usually when someone's near death, they tend to start talking more."

With that Sakura continued reading.

_Dearest Journal, 2 January 1672_

_I am pregnant, and I am scared._

_Sincerely Yours,_

_E. Ashcroft_

Sakura paused at this. She knew exactly who the father of the baby was, but she was also scared for how Envy's husband would react. She knew Envy's death was coming up too, since it was 1672 and that was the year the woman die.

~(^-^)~

Sasori sat back at the computer, digging through several files. Forty-five minutes had passed and he finally found something that sounded good. The name of the site was _Linch and the Woman of Konoha._ He clicked on it and began scouring the article for any signs of him knowing Envy Ashcroft.

_Nathanial Linch, born July 14, 1637, was an only child. At the age of fourteen his only parent died—his mother—and he became a traveling merchant. Before his father had left Linch's family, he taught Nathanial how to whittle. Linch lived the rest of his life traveling to villages and towns that would allow him and whittling little figurines for the townspeople who could afford them. He became very wealthy doing this, and was able to support himself very well. Sometimes he even got big jobs, making little figurines and toys for kings and queens who had children that loved the little ornaments._

_As Linch was traveling, he stopped in a small village for a week. He was only passing through to get more food and water for his journey, but some say he ran into the village magistrate's wife. A young girl of sixteen. Many say that they spent the entire week together, playing with the children or simply talking on the porch of the house Linch was being allowed to stay at during the week. Villagers say that when Linch would leave the young girl would go through bouts of depression, and when he would return, she would cheer up. Linch would stop in the village every now and then for a visit, offering her more little figurines and tales about his travels._

_The two died in the year of 1672 when it was found out by the woman's husband—the magistrate—that they had had an affair. She had become pregnant, and had Linch's child. The magistrate had not realized that the woman was having an affair, only noticing that his wife was very moody—never knowing that these fits were because of the village's redheaded visitor._

_When it was found out that she was having an affair—discovered as soon as the baby was born because the child had red hair, while the magistrate had brown—the magistrate then noticed the visitor—Linch—had red hair. Once Linch was found out, he and the magistrate's wife were executed._

"Well that wasn't helpful at all," Sasori muttered, exiting out of the site and heading for the kitchen to grab a bite to eat.

He was so bored, and until Sakura finished the diary, there wasn't any way they could continue their project.

He thought back to the website. Though the information seemed useless, he couldn't help the nagging feeling that he was missing something. He shrugged off the feeling though and headed back to the bedroom to work on the design for his soon to be new puppet.

~(^-^)~

"How can you sit there and read for hours on end? Especially about the life of someone else?" Sasori questioned, after coming back in the room from his workshop. He had finished the base proportions of his new puppet.

"Because it's interesting. She has so much going wrong at the same time as so much going right. I'm almost finished. Just a few more pages, the baby will be born, and she will be dead," Sakura answered in a trance.

Sasori, having just finished working on a puppet and being the kind to ignore important information when he's busy thinking about his work, shrugged, and sat down next to her, reading along with her.

_Dearest Journal, 29 October 1672_

_Just four more days and the baby should be born. My husband has become even crueler as the days pass. I think he can feel the presence of the baby coming. He hates children, and I believe he will not like this child._

_N seems to be nervous. He has returned once again and has noticed my large stomach. It pained me to walk to the village to greet him with the surprise of my pregnancy after having not seen him for six long months, but it was worth it. And a surprise it was. But his face brightened greatly when I told him it might be his. He said he would stay and wait to see if it was truly his, but he would have to leave soon afterward. I'm just glad he will be here to see the baby._

_I have my doubts that this child will be husband's child. I do not want it to be my husband's child anyway. N has been nicer to me than my husband, and I want it so badly to be N's babe. On the other hand, I'm am scared that it will be N's babe, for if it is, then we will all be sure to die._

_Sincerely Yours,_

_E. Ashcroft_

The last entry of the diary shocked Sakura more than the entire piece put together.

_Dearest Journal, 1 November 1672_

_The baby has come early. He is such a beautiful baby boy. He has messy red hair just like his father, and light green eyes like mine. He has the cutest little laugh. It is a shame that we are all three to die tomorrow—my new baby boy whom I have named Damian, myself, and N. I guess I should name him now, since there is no fear that he will be discovered anymore. He has already been discovered._

_I will miss my babe, for it will be a sure thing that I will go to hell for committing the sin of adultery. I guess that is the price I shall pay for being with my love, my Nathanial._

_Sincerely Yours for the last time,_

_E. Ashcroft_

With this the diary was finished. Sakura and Sasori sat on the bed in shock.

_**Well, that was a shitty ending . . . I wonder how the sex was,**_ Inner interrupted Sakura's silence.

_Don't say _that_! That's wrong!_ Sakura scolded, her face going red.

_**Well, you had to have been wondering too. I mean, come on. Both of your look-alikes look **_**exactly**_** like you, pretty much have the same personality, and they liked each other. They pretty much **_**are**_** you. So what I'm wondering is how-**_

_Okay! That's enough. I don't want to hear anymore,_ Sakura interrupted.

_**Do you think you guys are reincarnations?**_ Inner asked, finally asking a serious question for once.

_Why would we be reincarnations? Isn't that for people who have unfinished business or something?_

_**Not necessarily, but that might explain why you have been reincarnated.**_

_And why would that be?_

_**To give you another chance to **_**do it**_** right,**_ Inner became unserious again.

_Ugh! You're such a pig,_ Sakura muttered.

"Well, that was enlightening," Sasori said, pulling Sakura out of her inner conversation.

"You can say that again. Well, at least I know we're going to ace this project," Sakura responded sarcastically.


	9. Chapter 9

Kisame: Kitty-chan does not own_ Naruto._

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

For the next three hours, Sakura and Sasori did the boring and uncomfortable task of writing the paper for their project. Or at least it was awkward for Sakura.

Every now and then she would look up at Sasori, only to blush and look back down. Knowing that her and Sasori's look-alikes had an intimate relationship was making her nervous. Her hands trembled as they scribbled down the important information that they needed for the essay portion of their project. Inner wasn't making the situation any better either. She would make vulgar comments that made the pinkette blush and try to hide behind her hair.

"It's rude to stare, Geek," Sasori finally sighed after catching Sakura in the act. Whether she knew it or not, he was also having difficulties focusing on their project, he was just better at not getting caught.

Sakura exhaled loudly.

"It doesn't bother you? After reading that, you're not uncomfortable or embarrassed in the slightest?" she asked.

"Nope," he lied, feeling his heartbeat pick up after seeing the annoyed glint in her eyes.

He was having a hard time being around her, but it wasn't just because of finding out what they did. He had noticed the feeling even before, and as their closeness grew, the feeling was getting harder and harder to ignore—"Liar," she responded—and she was getting better and better at figuring out his feelings.

Feeling it was time for them to get out of the house for a while, and for him to change the subject, Sasori stood up from the computer where he was typing up his part of the essay.

"Let's go out," he said, and Sakura's face brightened to a deep red.

"W-what?" she stuttered, and he rolled his eyes, secretly enjoying her reactions.

"Not out. _Out_. As in we-need-to-take-a-break-because-I'm-hungry kind of out," he explained.

"O-oh, okay," she nodded as she tried to calm her pounding heart.

"What? Did you think I would take you out on a date, Geek?" Sasori teased.

"As if I would ever agree to go out with you, Puppet Boy," Sakura snapped back, her cheeks flaring.

"You know you want me."

"In your dreams."

They bickered like this back and forth all through dinner and when they got back to his house. It wasn't until later that night, when they were working on the project again, that Sakura realized that they were supposed to go back to school the next day. Surprisingly, she couldn't wait, especially after spending the past few days cooped up in Sasori's house doing nothing but reading and working on their English project.

"We have school tomorrow," she blurted all of a sudden.

"Yeah, and?" Sasori retorted.

"Do I have any clean clothes left here?" she asked, heading over to his dresser and opening up the bottom drawer.

_Why do I have clothes here to begin with? It's not like I'm his girlfriend or anything,_ Sakura thought to herself.

_**No, but you want to be,**_ Inner replied.

_Will you quit that? I'm tired of all your crap about wanting to get me with Sasori,_ Sakura snapped in irritation.

_**You're just mad because it's true,**_ the voice declared. Sakura hated it when her inner was right.

She dug through the drawer, finding a pair of clean jeans, but no shirt.

"Dammit," she muttered.

"What?" Sasori questioned, he had already turned back to the computer.

"I have clean pants, but no shirt. Everything else is dirty," she answered with a sigh.

"Then why do you put it back in the drawer?" he asked.

"Would you like my dirty laundry all over your floor?" Sakura muttered.

"I could live with it," he shrugged with a sly smile.

"Pervert," the pinkette snapped, throwing her jeans at his head. He caught them easily and threw them back at her.

"Just borrow one of my shirts. I'm pretty sure they're not that much bigger than the size you get," he suggested.

"Oh, can I wear that really cool _Disturbed_ t-shirt? That one's my favorite," she asked, rifling through his drawers to find it.

"I don't care," he shrugged.

Sakura found he shirt, sniffing it to make sure _he_ hadn't put it back in the drawer dirty, and was pleased to find that it didn't smell bad. It smelled like wood with a hint of paint and the smell of whatever fabric softener he used. With a shrug, she folded it back up and laid it on top of her pants, which she put on top of the dresser as a reminder of what to wear the next day.

Sasori turned back to the computer and tried to finish his part without getting distracted by Sakura again. He found it to get increasingly difficult—what with her sighing and rolling around on his bed in boredom—but within the next half hour he had completed his contribution. He got up and Sakura took her seat in front of the computer. It didn't take long for her to complete her share, which amazed and slightly irritated Sasori—wasn't she distracted by him as well?

"How did you get that done so fast?" he asked.

"I actually read her diary. You just got bunches of different tidbits of information on your guy from different websites. I've already finished the works cited page too, so we're done. All we need to do is staple this to the pictures, and turn it in tomorrow and we don't have to worry about it anymore," Sakura explained without giving him any room to question her. She hit the print button on the top of the screen and turned around to stare at the redhead.

"Bookworm," he grumbled.

"Slacker," she shot back with an angered pout.

"You're such a geek," he chuckled.

She was quiet for a while. As much as Sasori was pain in her butt, she had been plagued with one thought for the past hour or so.

_Now that we're finished with this project, will we stay friends? _she thought. It was a strange thought considering the way they had connected, but it really bothered her. The only reason they began talking in the first place was because of the project . . . now that the project was done, would they still hang out like this?

"Hey, Sasori . . ." she hesitated, catching the redhead's attention. He had never heard her sound so somber. Apparently she expected an answer because she didn't say anything.

"Yeah?" he waited. For the first time that he had seen, she seemed like she was having a hard time putting her words together.

" . . . Are we still going to be friends after this?" she asked quietly. Sasori balked.

_Friends . . ._ he thought slowly. The word didn't sit right with him. It took him longer than it should have to answer, and the space between them felt larger than it ever had.

"Friends with a geek like you? I don't think so," he joked shakily. Hopefully she hadn't noticed how nervous he sounded. She smiled and time seemed to stop for him. It was like he was looking at her for the first time.

"Thanks," she replied happily, and it was then that he realized that she was something he could never have. Whatever kind of friendship they had, he realized, should never be ruined by such a selfish desire.

_Friendship should be enough,_ he told himself no matter how much he really didn't believe it.

~(^-^)~

All they were doing was fighting now. Sakura had never had such a dysfunctional relationship with another person—granted she hadn't much of any kind of relationship with anyone, but this was ridiculous.

They were starting to fall apart—this hurt both of them.

Sakura was frustrated by her new job as a waitress, frustrated by Ino and Co.'s new determination to excessively harass her, and frustrated because she didn't know how to tell Sasori that she might have a teensy-weensy, itty-bitty, tiny-winy amount of feelings for her.

Sasori was frustrated by his new job, frustrated by Sakura's obsession over Nathaniel—his own look-alike!—and frustrated because he couldn't find a way to let the pinkette know that he might like her just a tiny, little bit.

In response to these frustrations, they took it out on each other.

They were starting to fall apart—this worried their friends.

Sasori and Sakura were almost constantly fighting sometimes—even at school. Their friends were starting to worry about whether their friendship would last-whether the two would be able to get to tell each other about how they feel. Their friends were starting to worry that Sakura and Sasori were pushing each other away.

They were falling apart.

That night Sakura had an early shift, so Sasori decided to take her home so she could change instead of going straight to his place. They had started fighting after school.

Sakura accused Sasori of starting it. She was hoping she might make Sasori jealous by talking about her past crushes. She didn't think that something so small and childish would make him respond so outrageously.

Sasori blamed Sakura for starting it. He had bluntly responded to her spiel by telling her that having crushes was stupid, and she should grow up. Jealousy raged in his thoughts though. She had no idea what she was doing to him.

Of course she was offended and she reacted defensively.

"Well, I think playing in that stupid workshop of yours all day long is a waste of time," she retorted angrily, while in reality, she just missed not spending time with him anymore because both of them were always working at different times.

Sasori was silent after that. He bit back whatever comment he had prepared, put on his helmet and mounted his bike. They had ridden the rest of the ride to her house in tense silence.

Both of them wished they could take back what they had said, but it was so frustrating trying to hide feelings they both thought would be rejected.

Sasori couldn't take it anymore. All this pent up frustration, this pining—it had to stop. As soon as they stopped in front of her apartment, he climbed off the bike with her, and grabbed her arm before she could shut the door in his face.

"Sakura . . ." he murmured tiredly, his heart clenched at the unshed tears that wet her eyes. His stomach knotted and his throat went dry at the thought of what he was about to tell her.

"I'm sorry . . . I'm just so frustrated, and I . . ." he didn't know how to tell her that he missed her smile, that he missed her playfulness, that he missed the light in her eyes that she used to reserve just for him. He didn't know how to tell her that he loved it when she teased him, that he loved the way she blushed when she was embarrassed, that he loved the way her nose crinkled when she laughed.

"I just . . . I don't understand what happened, Sasori. I know you're frustrated, I'm frustrated too, and I shouldn't be taking it out on you . . . I just . . . I don't understand," she blinked back tears. "This would have never happened with Envy . . ." she mumbled as an afterthought, and almost immediately regretted it, but there was no way to take it back now that it was said.

"You really think that if I acted like your little prince charming Nathaniel things would still be okay?" he asked angrily. "Sakura, I'm not even sure that what those two had was even _real_. I don't even think _you're_ sure that what they had was real. Whatever was in that journal could have been written for so many reasons. She could have loved him because they had an amazing sex life for all we know," he ranted.

"But that's not what—"

"That's not what she said? Or that's not how you interpreted it? To be so smart Sakura, you can be really dense. _Think._ Nathaniel was a man. He traveled a lot. For all we know, he could have had a woman for each town he was in. I will _not_ let you chase after whatever fantasy you have of this guy," Sasori wasn't thinking rationally. He just couldn't let Sakura fall in love with what she thought Nathaniel was like, and he couldn't be that for her no matter how much she asked it of him. She had found his breaking point.

"But you don't know that!" Sakura protested, her cheeks were dyed red with anger and embarrassment.

"Neither do you!" he roared. They were both quiet for a while.

"Why can't you just let me be happy believing what I want to believe?" she murmured pitifully.

He wasn't thinking; he just acted.

Sasori pulled her roughly forward and pressed his lips firmly against hers. Every bit of the kiss burned with passion and longing, and Sakura didn't know how to react; she couldn't react. He had pulled away all to soon.

"Is this what you want me to be? Someone I can't be?" he asked her angrily.

Sakura let the words sink in, and all hopes of thinking that he might just like her vanished before her very eyes. The tears she had been desperately holding back spilled over, and she slapped him hard across the face.

"You're such a jerk Sasori Akasuna!" she shouted and slammed he door in his face.

It took only a few seconds for him to realize he had gone too far. The look of shock changing to hurt changing to fear would never leave his mind. He had hurt her more than he believed he ever could.

~(^-^)~

She wanted to run to her room. She wanted so badly to get as far away from him as possible. But her body refused. It shut down. She couldn't even feel her legs as she tried to lift one to push her in the direction of her room. Instead, she crumbled to the floor and let out a loud, injured wail. She didn't care if he heard. Actually, she wanted him to know how badly he had hurt her that time. Her body shook violently as she cried, her arms trembling as they tried to support her.

Those words still rang in her ears. She couldn't get them out of her head. No matter how amazing the kiss was, she knew that he would never feel the same way she did. Not with those words he said. Words meant to cut.

_We're impossible,_ she despaired.

~(^-^)~

Sasori stood on the other side of her door, listening to Sakura cry. He could taste the guilt on his tongue like a bitter lozenge. He looked down, rested his forehead on the white door, and listened to her cry. This was his consequence.

And it hurt more than any kind of wound anyone could give him.

* * *

><p>Kitty-chan: Well, guys. I'm done revising <em>English Project.<em> I hope you enjoyed this edition better than the last. I'll be working on revising the sequel _Goodbye_, and I hope you enjoyed it.

Please review. I love you guys, and I wouldn't have nowhere near as much confidence to keep writing if it wasn't for you guys. Thank you.

~nomorehappykitty


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